Chosen by Sin Read online

  Her face softened in obvious affection for the girl. “Ella lives here. She’s an orphan. I have about six orphans who live on site.”

  “You’ve adopted six kids?” Had she done that after all the miscarriages? And were they the only individuals who lived on the grounds with her, or had she been talking about Cy earlier? Just as he had then, Dex bit back the question.

  “No. I’m more of a house mistress. They don’t really need a mother.”

  Dex frowned. “Don’t need a mother? How old is Ella? Seven? Eight?”

  “She’s seven. But she’s a dragon-shifter, like Cy.”

  When he just continued to look at her blankly, she frowned. “Cy said he’d explained to you about their life span.”

  “An average of thirty years. Yeah, he told me. So?”

  “So although a seven-year-old human child would need to live with a parent, Draci often live independently by the time they turn five. But since Ella came to me when she was three, well, I told her she could stay here as long as she wants. She and the other children have chosen to do so.”

  “She looks to be her age, but Cy looks a lot older than sixteen.”

  “In a couple of years, Ella will start aging more rapidly. Right now, it’s mostly emotional and internal maturation that’s accelerated.”

  He nodded. Then shook his head while blowing out his breath. “Weird.”

  She laughed. “I know it must seem that way, but I’ve lived with the Draci for almost a century. I’ve grown used to them.”

  Cy had said she’d come to live with the Draci after her parents died. Dex wondered how it had happened.

  “So you called your boss,” she said. “Mahone, right? What now?”

  According to Mahone, he was supposed to get his ass back to the church in Paris, track down the trio of shape-shifters, and make them talk. But he hadn’t told Mahone about being summoned by Jes or about her pregnancy, and although he’d told Mahone that he thought Trosseau had been possessed, he hadn’t told him the same thing about himself. “I don’t know,” he told Jes. “You said you need me to stay, but that I don’t have to stay too close. Why don’t you tell me what that means?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m kind of playing it by ear right now.”

  “So this connection we have, the one that makes the baby stronger, it’s not typical for vampires and their…” He stopped, not sure what to say. Child’s father? Lover? He didn’t feel comfortable saying either one.

  “No. Not at all. I’ve never heard of it before. Certainly never experienced this. But I have no doubt it’s real.” She pressed her hand against her stomach. Was it his imagination, or did her waistline look slightly thicker?

  “You said your pregnancy will last a month. So the baby will be born in a little more than two weeks?”

  “Yes. Maybe even sooner.”

  He saw the flash of hope in her eyes and shook his head. “I can’t stay that long, Jes. I have work to do.” He also had his revenge to think about. And despite her assurances, Dex needed to consider Lucy. He’d promised to be there for her during her heat. Every day he was away meant she suffered. Although she’d wanted to terminate their arrangement before he’d left, she’d likely change her mind when the heat got bad. He didn’t want to leave her hanging, even if spending an extended amount of time with Jes could be…nice.

  Jes bit her lip, clearly struggling with the desire to persuade him to stay and the need to let him do what was right for himself. “Can you stay a week? Ten days? You don’t have to stay here, on the grounds. The baby started getting better as soon as you were in France. I know you have your mission to consider. In fact, I asked Cy if he’d take you to the village come daylight.”

  He couldn’t stay ten days. Not even one week. But her comment about Cy and the village distracted him from saying so. “What village? Why?”

  “You said your main objective is to get intel on these shape-shifter murders, right? But that the diregeants had stonewalled you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe someone in the nearby village knows something that can help you.”

  “Why would they? Who lives in this village?”

  “Mostly dragon-shifters, but there are a few Otherborn, as well. No humans, so we can all live relatively in the open.”

  He reached out and touched her hair. She seemed to hold her breath until he drew back him arm. “Why the dye job, then?”

  “I’m a doctor. Never know when I’ll be called to help someone. Slipping sunglasses on to cover my eyes is one thing, but with the hair, it’s just easier this way.”

  “Hmm,” he said. “Are there shape-shifters in the village?”

  “Not that I know of. The Otherborn are mainly Giselle’s family. Felines. And a couple of mages.”

  Mages, huh? That could be useful. Now that he was dealing with shape-shifters killing shape-shifters, and dealing with some kind of dark force, too, maybe a mage would know something useful. But was it worth risking the baby’s health on the chance he could get some information that may or may not be helpful? “What if going to the village is too far? What if it’s dangerous for me to leave and you end up losing the baby?”

  Clearly upset by what he was saying, Jes looked away. “I’ve given that a lot of thought. But you staying here could very well endanger the baby, too.”

  He stiffened. “You said you weren’t afraid of me.”

  She covered his hand with her own. The light touch hit him harder than a heavyweight knockout punch. He felt it everywhere. Inside him.

  She hissed and pulled her hand away, as if she too had felt the contact intensely enough to scare her. She shook her head. “I’m not afraid of you. But Cy thinks something possessed you, something he called a diabol. I’m not sure if it’s true, but it could be. You weren’t yourself when you attacked him. If something made you act that way, it could do so again. If you go into the village, a mage might be able to give you a protection spell.”

  He smiled at how eerily her thoughts echoed his own, but he still hesitated. Funny, just yesterday he’d completely rejected the idea of having a child. Now he was having to weigh his every move against the risk of harming one.

  “What if you start to weaken in my absence?”

  “I’ll call you.”

  “Your cell service sucks.”

  “True, but the village isn’t that far away. Plus, I’ve been to the village, which means if I need you, I can teleport there in seconds.”

  “I don’t know. Yesterday you were begging me to stay close. Now you’re sending me away? You can try to persuade me to stay put. Why aren’t you?”

  She smiled sadly. “I tried that already. It didn’t work out so well, remember? Besides, I honestly don’t think I’d be endangering my child. If I did, I wouldn’t be suggesting this. I know nothing is foolproof or guaranteed. I know it’s a small risk. Given my history, it’s a risk whether you stay or not.”

  Dex nodded. “Okay. We’ll try it your way for now.”

  “Good,” Jes said. She rose. “I’m sorry, but I need to get some wood to replenish the fireplaces. I’ll—I’ll see you later?”

  “Uh, yeah.” Dex stood, as well. He remembered the woodshed he’d seen earlier and knew carrying wood to the castle over such a distance wouldn’t be easy for Jes. She looked healthier than before but she was pregnant. Yes, he knew she was a vampire who was probably stronger than he was, but he still wasn’t going to let her haul wood by herself. “I’ll help you,” he said.

  “You don’t have to do that!” Jes said. “You’re still recovering and—”

  She bit her lip as he glared at her, arms crossed over his chest. “Okay, I’m sorry. What I mean is, thank you. I’d appreciate that.”

  He smiled and she laughed and he was filled with shock at how much he was enjoying her company when neither one of them was even naked. Silently, she led the way to the woodshed, occasionally sneaking glances at him. At one point, he felt her gaze on him and turned. When their gaze
s locked, she flushed, and he knew immediately she was remembering the two of them together, bodies straining toward climax.

  Quickly, she looked away. “Uh, here we are,” she said needlessly.

  The woodshed was bigger than it had looked to be in the distance. A stump and ax were to his right, but there was plenty of split wood to collect already. Dex looked around for some kind of basket.

  “There are rucksacks inside. Let me just—” As she spoke, she pulled open the shed door and flipped on the light switch.

  Since he was looking at her, he noticed the way her eyes rounded and her cheeks lost the color they’d only recently regained.

  “Mon dieu!” she gasped.

  He stepped behind her and looked inside. “What’s wrong? Is there—oh fuck,” Dex breathed. He put a hand on Jes’s shoulder and said, “Go get Cy.”

  “But—but maybe I can help.”

  “He’s dead.” Turning her to face him, he repeated, “Go get Cy, Jes. Now.”

  She nodded and stumbled back, then began to run while calling Cy’s name.

  He watched until she made it inside, then he turned back, his gaze landing on the body of the dead werebeast inside.

  It was Rurik Pitts.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Thirty minutes later, Dex paced in Jes’s library. He and Cy had carried Rurik Pitts’s body into Jes’s surgery room, leaving him there so Jes could later conduct an autopsy. When Jes handed him a glass of scotch, he noticed how calm she appeared. He, on the other hand, was more rattled than he cared to admit. Even Cy looked a little shaken up. Aside from her initial shock at the woodshed, Jes seemed the most composed. Why? Because she was a doctor and dealt with life and death every day?

  “Come morning, you and Cy should still go to the village,” Jes said. “I’ll do the autopsy while you’re gone.”

  What? Was she serious? “I should stay here,” Dex insisted. “Rurik Pitts was a member of a U.S. biker gang, the Ferals. I rode with them for a while and they’re not a nice bunch of guys. He was obviously murdered and left in that woodshed for me to find.”

  The question was why. Part of him had always known that someday Rurik would come after Dex to avenge his brother’s death, but why now? Why in France? Did Dex’s weird dream in L.A. have anything to do with this?

  He plowed a hand through his hair. How had Rurik ended up dead? It didn’t make sense, which meant he wasn’t leaving Jes alone even to investigate the nearby village with Cy. What if Rurik’s murderer was hanging around just waiting to claim another victim?

  Only problem was, Jes was looking at him with a combination of exasperation and flinty determination, clearly not liking what he was implying: that she needed him to protect her.

  “Let’s be logical about this,” Jes said. “First, you don’t know the werebeast was murdered. Maybe he came to see you and died of natural causes before he could. We won’t know for sure until I complete the autopsy.”

  “He died of natural causes while waiting in your woodshed? Even if that’s true, he was sneaking around and he likely wasn’t alone. That means someone else is sneaking around, too, and is still a potential threat.”

  “But if this hypothetical companion came with Rurik, and Rurik came to see you, it’s likely his companion came to see you, too. Whether it was to talk nice or not, you’re probably the target. Am I right?”

  She was right, but Dex really didn’t want to admit it. Compromising, he grunted.

  Next to Jes, an impatient Cy rolled his eyes.

  “Okay, then don’t you think leaving the castle grounds for a while actually makes sense? Chances are the guilty culprits will follow you, leaving the rest of us safer than we are now. Plus, someone in the village might have seen Rurik. I guarantee you, strangers would be noticed, especially someone as rough-looking as him.”

  Dex frowned in frustration. A quick glance at Cy proved he wouldn’t be getting any help from him. “Everything you say makes sense, but—”

  “But you’re worried about me.” Jes covered his hand with hers, but quickly withdrew it when a sizzle of awareness flashed between them. She flushed. “And that’s very sweet, Dex, but I’m not an ordinary female. I’m a vampire. I’ve lived in this isolated part of the world for almost one hundred years, protecting myself and others from all kinds of intruders, including weres. I don’t need you here. Not for this,” she said quickly when he opened his mouth to contradict her.

  He closed his mouth with a snap.

  She stood and nodded, as if things had been decided.

  “I don’t want to be blamed for interfering with your mission. Go. Talk to the villagers. As we discussed, I’ll find you if I need you. Barring that, I’ll see you when you return. Right now, I have an autopsy to perform.”

  After nodding to Cy, she turned on her heel and left. Dex stared after her in amazement. He felt like he’d been twisted and turned and generally worked over by a pro.

  Cy burst into laughter. “Man, if you could see the look on your face.” Shaking his head, he rose. “Might as well give in gracefully. One way or another, you and I are going to that village or Jes will make you miserable. By the way you both reacted when she touched you, I’m betting you’d rather go now and reap the rewards of having pleased her later.”

  ***

  Dex wasn’t sure what he was expecting of Cy’s village, but this wasn’t it.

  He supposed that since Jes’s home was a castle, he wouldn’t have been surprised to find a village of cramped dingy huts and a bunch of morose dragon-shifters bemoaning their short life spans. Instead, Montpeyroux Village was both modern and quaint, bustling with life despite the fact it only had about 189 residents. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear the village was inhabited by regular old humans. No wraiths, vamps, or weres in sight.

  As Cy led him down the main thoroughfare, they passed outdoor cafes where a few couples sat outside. Several people walked the street with them, some pushing prams or carrying nappies or picnic bags. There were several restaurants, including a pub that caught Dex’s attention—damn, he could use a beer right about now—as well as several businesses. The Draci were obviously a creative, artistic bunch. On one street alone he passed sculptors, wood crafters, leather crafters, ironmongers, painters and a poet reading his work in front of a bookstore.

  Across the way from them, there was a small water fountain where several children played. To Dex’s surprise, the sight of children playing and the sound of their laughter didn’t have their usual effect on him. Whenever he’d seen kids playing in the past, he’d inevitably remembered the suffering he’d witnessed at the were orphanage and during the War. And he’d always renewed his vow never to bring another child into the world. Now, with Jes pregnant, it was too late for that. Still, the thought came without regret or anger. He seemed more inclined to remember Ella, the cartwheeling girl. Even more amazing was the fact he wanted to smile at the memory.

  Cy stopped outside a creperie.

  “You like ice cream?” Cy asked.

  Was the guy joking? “Not particularly.”

  Cy shrugged, went inside and ordered a double-scoop of Rocky Road and vanilla.

  Dex watched the entire transaction, then fell back in step beside him. Cy was one surprise after another. He was huge, looked like a linebacker, yet had no problem ordering and licking a double scoop ice cream while they walked.

  Cy finished off the cone, tossed the wrapper in a garbage can, then grinned before turning to Dex, catching him staring at him. “I’m freaking you out, aren’t I?”

  Dex coughed. “A little.”

  “I told you.” Cy gave one of his common shrugs. “I have to enjoy my life while I can. If I feel like having an ice cream cone—and unlike you I have quite a fondness for ice cream—I’m not going to stop myself from having one because someone else is gonna see it as unmanly, you know? Isn’t there anything that you’ve wanted, that you knew would make you happy, and you just took it, damn the consequences?”

 
; “Yeah. That didn’t work out too well.” He was thinking of Jes and their unplanned pregnancy. And he had the feeling Cy knew it. Especially when he said, “Show’s not over yet. Who knows what will happen.”

  As they continued to walk, the dragon-shifter greeted those they passed. Those same people looked at Dex with fascination, but no one seemed to be scared or disdainful of him. Which Dex found interesting.

  “You get many weres around here?”

  “At one time, quite a few. At various times they’ve been enemies. Allies. Peacefully indifferent. Right now, we’re at the peacefully indifferent stage. We have been for a long time. We’re hoping that’s not going to change.”

  “Why would it?”

  “The were leader who controls the packs around here promotes peace and everyone knows the punishment he’ll impose if they countermand him. Unfortunately, he’s dying. Those set to take over aren’t quite as open minded.”

  “And what will you do once this were leader is dead and the others don’t cooperate?”

  Cy shrugged, but this time his expression was hard. “Whatever we have to do. Same as you would.”

  Dex was about to ask him the were leader’s name when Cy stopped. “We’re here.”

  “Here” was a little shop complete with wind chimes and a banner that advertised palm readings. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Cy opened the door and motioned Dex inside.

  A mage came out from the back room. He recognized her immediately. It was the blonde from the farmer’s market in Paris.

  Her eyes widened when she spotted him, then she smiled. “Hello, were. You still looking for something to help your lover ease the heat?” she asked. A second later, her gaze dipped to his chest then back up to his face. Was it his imagination, or had her smile dimmed slightly?

  Before he could respond to her question, Cy grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him to him. “What is she talking about?”

  Dex shoved him away. “What the hell business is it of yours?”

  “You know why it’s my business. How do you two know each other?”

  “We met at the farmer’s market before I ended up at that church where I met you.”