Dark Solace Read online

  “—Devlin’s not going to be traveling anymore,” she finished. “He said he has to be here to take care of Venus. This should be the last week he’s gone.”

  “Then all things being even, you should see me the night after tomorrow, probably,” I said, giving her a smile. “Maybe we can do some gardening the next morning.”

  “I’d like that. I was afraid to come and see you after what happened with Cia.”

  “I’m sorry about that, too.” Cia was still not talking to me after our words over Serena’s coyote ancestry, but that was her problem.

  “Never mind,” Serena said, hugging me. “I’m just happy you are coming to stay again.”

  When I walked out, I expected to see Lash there giving me a knowing look. Instead the stairs were empty. But the tracking device was there waiting on my seat when I got into my truck. Before I went into the house, I planted it in Theo’s vehicle, as Lash had instructed.

  * * * *

  That night over a takeout pizza by candlelight, Theo and I toasted one another. “To you and me and Devon,” I said softly. “To us.”

  I tried not to overdo it, not wanting Theo to think that I thought he was going to die. That was a lot easier now I knew Lash would be there, watching his back.

  “Sar?” Theo said reluctantly. “I need to talk about some things with you after dinner.”

  It had to be The Talk I Had Been Dreading. “Let’s go in the living room.”

  After the remains of dinner had been cleaned up, we both went in on the couch, and sat down. Devon was lying on Theo’s lap, purring softly. I was a bundle of nerves, my hand clenching my wine glass so hard I was surprised the stem didn’t break.

  “Sar, I might not come back,” Theo began, reaching out and grabbing my free hand. “If I don’t, I want you to go back to Danial.”

  I was so shocked, I swallowed some saliva, and began to cough. I got up quickly and got a drink of water, deliberately taking a while, my mind racing furiously.

  Five minutes later, I sat back down. “What are you suggesting?” I asked.

  “Sar, I’ve resigned myself to sharing you with him. I know he loves you. He’ll take care of you, and Devon. For a long time, I was bitter and jealous that you went to him when I was gone. But that was selfish of me. If I was truly dead, you’d both be vulnerable. I don’t want you to be alone here, trying to tough it out by yourself out of some misguided sense of loyalty to me. You were happy with him, before.” He looked away. “You could be again.”

  “You are coming back,” I said firmly. “So it’s easy for me to tell you that yes, I’ll do that.”

  “If I’m coming back, I’ll reach home by dawn,” Theo said gruffly. “If I’m not here by then, pack a bag and go. If I’m badly injured, I’ll look for you at Danial’s—”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  “—and you should also Oath again to Devlin,” Theo finished, forcing the words out. “As soon as possible.”

  A huge tension left me; now I had a clear way to approach Dev, Theo having given me permission. But this also seemed not only too easy, but also completely out of character for Theo. “Why now?”

  “You told me once you loved Devlin, that you would never do anything to hurt him. And the truth is, Danial’s not enough to keep you safe. Neither am I.” He paused. “I can’t say if Dev loves you. He was a jerk, to do what he did. But you are the mother of his only child. He’ll protect you just for that. Once you tell him you want his protection, he’ll give it to you.”

  “This is all rational, but you’re reciting this like a movie scene,” I replied. “Why? I know you don’t want me to be with him again.”

  “Because Danial took me aside last week, and advised it,” Theo growled. “Samuel has contacted him. Harriet had the baby, Sar. It was a month early and stillborn.”

  I closed my eyes, and sagged. Harriet had been the only other woman with blood that was kind of like mine: capable of the resistance to the virus necessary to carry a vampire’s child to term. Coupled with a secret infusion of a potion with some of my blood made by Titus, Devlin had hoped to make her blood exactly like mine. But his plot hadn’t worked...and now would soon be discovered. “Then they’ll be coming for me to find out why.”

  Theo pulled me close. “Danial and Devlin are going in two weeks to meet with Samuel, Perseus, and Zane, to head them off.” He paused. “Michael has expressed an interest now, too.”

  Theo’s tone was hateful.

  “They want Stephen’s files on you. The bastards are going to keep trying until they succeed, or she dies—”

  “Stop, please,” I whispered. “I don’t want to hear anymore. Please.”

  “Last time, I never said anything to you,” Theo continued. “I didn’t want to face that something might happen to me. So I stupidly thought that if I didn’t talk to you about it, it wouldn’t happen. I don’t want you to go through what you did before.” He paused. “There are documents in our safe, Sar, in an envelope marked with your name. Everything you need to access our money is in there. The account numbers, everything. Your signature and the documents will be enough, though you’ll need to make sure you are signing the right names, to get to some of the stashed money.”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  “I think that’s everything,” Theo concluded. “I told all of this to Danial like last time. He said he would take care of you, if anything happens tomorrow night—”

  “Please,” I said, putting my finger to his lips. “I understand. I’m grateful you told me this, Theo. But you are going to come back.”

  “Yes, I am,” Theo said hugging me tightly. “Because I love you so much I’d crawl out of Hell to get to you, if I had to.”

  “You are not going to Hell,” I said, kissing him. “You are coming to Heaven with me.”

  “Sar, I’m probably not going to Heaven,” Theo said sadly. “I’ve killed too many people.”

  “Then wait for me, if you go first into death. Meet me by the river Styx, and I’ll bribe the ferryman to take us to the same place, no matter if it’s Hades or Heaven.”

  Theo stood up with me in his arms, and gave me a long loving look. “Come with me, you strange woman of mine. I’m ready for bed.”

  “Are you going to purr for me?” I said seductively, gently lifting Devon’s limp sleeping form.

  “Maybe later,” Theo replied huskily, his arm trailing down my shoulder to lightly brush my breast. “But first you’re going to purr for me.”

  Chapter Two

  I awoke about eight, the first thought in my head that it was the day of the fight. Theo was still asleep, one arm thrown across me, his deep even breathing the only noise in the room. I kissed him softly, and got up. Devon was still asleep in his crate at the bottom of the bed.

  “What time is it?” Theo asked groggily.

  “About eight,” I said, pulling on my blue velvet bathrobe. “Want breakfast, or you want to wait?”

  “I need more sleep,” Theo said seriously, rolling on his back. “This wild woman I met last night kept me up at all hours of the night—”

  “I remember it was your idea,” I said teasingly. “I said I was tired at one a.m., but you said—”

  “I don't remember it that way,” Theo said, grinning at me. “I remember—”

  “Hush,” I said sternly. “I’m going to go and feed Devon. But when he gets his nap late this afternoon, I’m coming back in here to refresh your memory.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Theo said happily, stretching. “But first you can make me breakfast.”

  That day was perfect. We didn’t do anything extraordinary, but we spent it together, doing things that mattered deeply to us. We had breakfast early, sharing some with Devon. Watching him gobble it down, I was tempted to tell Theo not to give him so much, but I said nothing. If Theo somehow didn’t come back, I wanted him to have the memory. Devon would recover from an upset stomach.

  Later, after breakfast we watched V for Vendetta and my
favorite movie, the animated version of The Hobbit, with Devon sleeping on Theo’s lap.

  “Why do you like this, again?” Theo said curiously, as he sat through it with me.

  “Because Bilbo was a hero,” I answered. “He could have sat in his house and had a perfectly good life. He had a lot of chances to stay out of struggles or to run when the going got tough. He always chose instead to act, no matter what it cost him. He was the one who understood life best, because he didn’t care about what people told him he had to do, or about what might happen to him. He did what he thought was right, even though he paid a heavy price for it. That’s true bravery: to be afraid, to not want to do something, and to do it anyway, because it’s the right thing to do.”

  “You get all that from watching this?” Theo said, giving me a disbelieving look. “The trilogy of movies made with real actors are much better, and go into a lot more detail.”

  “I’ve read the book many times,” I replied. “The book is like the movies that were made later, and it’s true, they’re better. But I grew up with this. It inspires me.”

  “Then you feel about this like I feel about V,” Theo said contentedly, giving me a kiss. “I never knew that.” He kissed me again. “I’m glad I do now.”

  We spent our last hours in bed, just holding each other, Devon asleep in his crate. I told Theo I loved him many times. There were so many other things I wanted to say if this was the last time I saw him, but I couldn’t say any of them, because I needed to be strong for him.

  At nightfall, Theo dressed in dark clothes, loaded his gun, and strapped on his body armor.

  I looked at him a little skeptically. “Will he have armor, too?”

  “We’ll probably take it off,” Theo said, seeing my look. “Usually this type of fight is hand to hand, with no protection, just a knife, sword, or a whip.”

  I hugged him hard suddenly, and he hugged me back. “I won’t be back before one, Sar. Don’t start to worry until three at least. And if you don’t want to wait alone, call Tears, and he’ll wait here with you.”

  I couldn’t do that. I had to wait for Lash to call my cell. Otherwise there would be a phone record Theo might someday see. “I’ll be waiting with our son,” I said, as confidently as I could. “Be careful.”

  Theo kissed me and left. I watched him back out and drive off, hoping the transmitter was working. Lash hadn’t told me to flip any switches on it, not that there had been any obvious ones.

  As I watched his tail lights fade, a lone headlight powered on in the gloom of my barn’s long shadow. Then came the noisy growl of a Harley as a small dark figure astride a black motorcycle sped off into the night after Theo.

  Lash was holding up his end. I’d better decide what to do about Devlin to hold up mine. But what to say when I showed up at Hayden tomorrow? Dev would be suspicious. It had been too long to just say I missed him, though that was true. I couldn’t tell him I longed for him, that I hadn’t been able to wait another day. It had to be something good. Devlin’s ego would be crushed to hear his best friend had bribed me to take him back. He had to buy what I told him completely. That would be easiest if I told him what he wanted to hear most. But was offering to take another Oath really what he wanted?

  That line of reasoning brought me to the question that had bothered me for a while now: why had Devlin made me take an Oath that he had broken so casually? He’d gone to so much trouble to claim me as his own. Maybe it was the old reason of philandering men everywhere: he had simply thought he wasn’t going to get caught.

  To Hell with trying to plan, or write any kind of script to say. I’d just go tomorrow night and tell Dev I’d give him another chance. And that if he screwed up, it would be the last one.

  * * * *

  The hours passed by like years. I watched some movies, but couldn’t keep my mind on them. I lay on the couch with Devon sleeping on my lap, dozing fitfully for minutes at a time. I’d wake, straining my ears, sure I’d heard a sound. But it was never Theo.

  Finally, near one in the morning, my cell phone rang. I answered on the first ring. “Hello?”

  “Theo’s alive, Sar,” Lash hissed.

  I sank down to the couch, so relieved I let out a sob.

  “He beat Robert, killed him,” Lash continued. “It’s over. He’s taking his time now with the remains, making a mess to photograph before he incinerates it. That’s good. He shouldn’t be challenged again for a while.”

  “Thank you.” I said, thinking Lash had made out like a bandit. “I’m glad you were watching—”

  “I did more than watch,” Lash hissed. “You were right to take our deal, Sar. Must be supernatural intuition from all that demon blood in your veins.”

  Ice water went down my spine. “What are you—?”

  “There were others lying in wait at the old machining shop. Ten weres in all, all with full body armor, and automatic weapons. They were getting into position as Theo and Robert were stripping off their armor for their fight.”

  “The Harvesters?”

  “Yes. Satar was there, leading them.” Lash paused a half second. “It was hard killing them all quietly, but I don’t think Theo noticed anything. I paid Titus to give me some of his blue fire, to take care of the remains. There are no bodies to find. Titus thought it was for another job I have coming, so he won’t think anything of it.”

  So it was Lash who took care of Devlin’s business, of at least some of the killing that needed doing. Shudder.

  “Tasha’s father had sent them,” Lash continued. “I made Satar call Karl, made him tell Karl that he’d best forget his daughter, that she was dead. That it was me who killed her, not Theo. That if he was still looking for vengeance, he knew where to find me. And if he tried for me, I’d be coming back to Russia to kill him.”

  “You killed Tasha?” I whispered.

  “Yes,” Lash hissed back, his easy reply making me shiver. “It was business, Sar, just like it is sometimes for Theo. She was scared enough of me that she told me everything, without me even touching her. Her death was a quick one, quicker than she deserved, after all she had done.” He paused. “My end’s done now, Sar.”

  Not by a long shot. “What did you mean about going back to Russia to see Karl?” I asked sharply. “When were you there?”

  Lash swore.

  “Tell me, Lash. I gave you my word. I’ll stick to it, so long as you tell me the truth.”

  “The truth is that Devlin sent me to look for Theo more than a year after he went missing. Danial asked me to from the first, but I refused. Devlin finally asked me to, when he saw how crazy not knowing was driving his brother. I never expected to find Theo. It had been so long since he had disappeared. But it took me only a month to follow his trail. I found him in Russia.”

  I couldn’t speak, I was too furious.

  “Sarelle, listen to me,” Lash said in a dangerously soft tone. “Theo had already been bespelled. When I found him that night, he was in bed having sex with that girl. I heard him tell her he loved her, that he wanted to be with her always. When I called Devlin and reported everything to him, he told me to do nothing. To just come home, and leave Theo alone.”

  “Why?” I shouted, tears falling from my eyes. “How could you find him and not tell—?”

  “Because I’d found Theo, and he wanted clearly not to be found,” Lash answered. “There was a phone there beside the bed they were on. He could have used it to call you or Danial anytime. He didn’t want to come back, or have anything to do with his old life. Devlin was worried about you. He thought that once you knew, you might be upset enough to lose your baby. You were pregnant then with Theoron. He couldn’t even tell Danial, as Danial wouldn’t be able to keep it from you. So it was better that no one knew, that everyone thought Theo was dead.”

  I rubbed my eyes. “Maybe you’re right.”

  “Sar, Karl will not be bothering Theo again,” Lash hissed. “Robert is also dead. Theo is as safe as he’s going to be.”

&n
bsp; “What about the one that you made call Karl?”

  “After he finished the call, I killed him,” Lash hissed. “I wasn’t going to leave Satar alive. He would have gotten some more weres and come back again, this time for me.”

  That was a relief. “Good,” I whispered.

  “Sar, I’ve kept my end of the bargain,” Lash reiterated coldly. “Keep yours. I will be waiting for you at Hayden after dusk. Be there tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be there,” I said softly. “Thank you, for what you did.”

  Lash was quiet for a moment. “You’re welcome.” Then there was only a dial tone.

  I hung up the phone, and got the towels ready. By Lash’s description, Theo would be a mess.

  Theo showed up at three. He called from outside the door and asked for the towels. When I let him in, he dropped his bloody clothes, and headed for the shower. I put his jeans, shirt, T-shirt, jacket, and underwear in a garbage bag with his shoes, then took the bundle out to the garage to have him burn it later with white fire.

  After his shower, I sewed him up like before. The older wounds had mostly healed, but some of the stitches had ripped in his fight with Robert. I redid those, then saw to a few new nasty wounds, lamenting that I’d need a trip to the sewing store for new needles at the earliest opportunity.

  “These will heal,” he said as I sewed. “But they’ll take a while. The bastard had were poison on his blade.”

  “Wasn’t he were?” I asked, carefully sewing. “What if he cut himself on his blade by accident?”

  “Werecoyote,” Theo spat. “I gave him some poison, too, when I cut him. It’s standard practice, Sar, in a challenge.” He paused. “Robert was good, very good. He didn’t make any stupid mistakes. It was close a few times.”

  As I applied bandages to the sewn places, Theo called Danial and left a message on his cell to say he was fine, and that we were coming back tomorrow.

  “Don’t you want to stay here?” I asked, surprised.

  “Sar, the Harvesters are still out there,” Theo answered, hanging up the phone. “I’m not going to take the chance that they might hurt you or Devon. We have to go back until I settle with them.”