Exhaling, my heart thudded against my chest from another surge of electricity. “I want you as happy as possible, Coraline. We will talk later.”

  “I hope you’re not lying to me.” She acted as if she wanted to say something else, but instead she locked eyes with mine.

  In them I saw a recognition of my wolf.

  As well as utter terror.

  I’d left Coraline under Miller’s watch. He had explicit instructions not to allow her out of the condo for any reason. There were no exceptions, including pretending her dog needed to be walked. The action had been taken care of before I left.

  As I stepped out of my Mercedes, I checked the surrounding area. While considered a portion of my turf, East Garfield Park was also one of the most dangerous sections of Chicago, a place where violence had taken a significant toll. It was also ripe with the use of drugs, allowing Josh to get his hands on anything he craved. I knew his dealer, a savage asshole who’d challenged me once.

  It had been a hard lesson for the scumbag to learn, but I’d had no additional trouble since then. However, the location I was about to enter indicated Josh was indulging in another one of his sick proclivities.

  As Bronco climbed out of his Charger, he ran his fingers through his hair, hissing under his breath. He loathed coming to this part of town. I couldn’t blame him. Even the stench was different than in our boroughs in the city. There wasn’t a need for any discussion. He was well aware of my intentions. I only hoped Josh wasn’t already strung out. Answers were needed.

  I moved into the dry cleaners, Bronco trailing behind, the girl behind the counter barely paying us any attention. She was used to the comings and goings of a different kind of clientele. She’d been well versed in the art of silence. As I headed down the rickety stairs, I held my breath. The basement had been turned into a drug mecca, complete with several rooms where special clients could indulge in their fantasies. Josh had provided enough money to be considered one of the owner’s top customers.

  As I walked inside, the owner’s eyes opened wide.

  Ralph Stinson’s name was unassuming. To anyone else, the man was nothing but a wiry accountant, boring in every way. Little did they know he’d killed at least a dozen people who’d fucked with him. I had to admire a man who could maintain two completely different personalities and professions without either colliding with the other.

  Ralph jerked up from his desk, swallowing hard.

  “Relax, Ralph. I’m not here to see you and after I leave, I was never here. Do you understand?” I shifted my gaze in his direction, allowing him to see just a hint of my wolf. “All I need to know is which room Josh is in.”

  “No question. You were never here. Last door on the right.” Ralph immediately returned to his seat, shifting his attention to whatever work he was trying to accomplish.

  Bronco mumbled behind me as we headed down the corridor. At least Ralph kept a clean establishment. That added to his credibility. I slammed my hand on the door, shocking the hell out of Josh and the naked woman in the middle of giving him fellatio.

  She squealed as Bronco jerked her onto her feet, yanking her toward the door. “Get out of here, honey. Go home. Take a shower. Get clean. You’ll live longer,” Bronco huffed.

  She didn’t need to be told twice, grabbing her clothes and scampering away.

  Even in the ugly lighting, I could tell Josh had paled. As he struggled to stand, I was able to sense he’d shot up with heroin but was somewhat coherent. I took two long strides, grabbing him by the throat and lifting his body several inches off the floor.

  “Listen up, Josh. I don’t like that you’ve been avoiding Bronco. In fact, that pisses me off. Now, we’re going to have a nice discussion. If you cooperate, you can go back to your drug-induced haze. I think you know what will happen if you don’t.”

  “Yes… Yes, sir,” he struggled to say.

  “Good boy.” I let him down, wiping my hands on my trousers. I glanced around the room, shaking my head. How could people live like this? I hated my brother was in the business of supplying the same crap, but it was his choice to do so. Maybe things would need to change after I took the helm. “You know almost everybody in this town. It would seem we have a bad apple trying to spoil the entire orchard.”

  “Wha… What?” he asked.

  Snarling, I snapped my head in his direction. “There is a new player in town. He’s obviously putting the fear of God into the neighborhood. I need to know who that is.”

  He swallowed several times, moving from one foot to the other. “I’ve heard the same shit but no names. I swear. And I’ve had no contact with them.”

  “Them. As in more than one?”

  Nodding, he shot a quick glance in Bronco’s direction. “Some freaking entity out of Alabama or Texas or something. Somewhere south.”

  “Louisiana?” I managed, my anger swelling.

  “Yeah. Yeah! That’s it. Don’t know shit about them other than they are intimidating as hell. That’s why I came here. Couldn’t get my usual party favors off the streets. Nobody wants to sell shit right now.” He shrank back after issuing the words, knowing how much I loathed a drug addict.

  “How are they intimidating? Violence?”

  Shrugging, he continued to shift, his nerves getting the better of him. “They don’t have to resort to that. They use some kind of mumbo jumbo bullshit. That’s what I heard, Mr. Dupree. I swear to God!”

  I closed my eyes, almost laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. “I believe you, Josh. What do they want?”

  When he didn’t answer, I came closer until there were only a few inches between us.

  He looked away, shaking like a leaf. “I don’t know for certain.”

  “Take a freaking guess.”

  When he lifted his gaze, there was real fear in his eyes, but not because of what I could and might do to him. Because of what he was about to tell me. “They’re going to perform some sacrifice. You know, like slaughtering an animal, although my gut tells me they have something else in mind.”

  A sacrifice. The old ways of voodoo. “What are they trying to accomplish? Guess for me. You’re a smart man.”

  “Getting to you. They won’t stop until they have everything that belongs to you. Then…”

  “Then?”

  Josh dragged his tongue across his lips. “Don’t kill me, okay? I just heard smack talk. I don’t know if it’s the truth.”

  “Continue or I will hurt you.”

  “Then,” he managed. “Then they plan on exterminating you and your entire family.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Coraline

  Nightmares.

  I’d had them when I was very young, but the ones I’d experienced were never like the type that other kids talked about in school. Boogeymen in the woods. Creatures under the bed and hiding in the closet. Beasts clawing at the windows. Mine were indescribable, almost always the same. A suffocating three-dimensional cube that expanded in size as it chased me. The dream always ended with blood.

  And my screams.

  My mother had been advised by my pediatrician to take me to a specialist, but she’d been determined to handle my unclean dreams, as she’d called them, herself, touting her religion would help me. I’d been far too young to understand the chants and sayings she’d issued every night before I went to bed. All I knew is that after two months, they disappeared. Since then, I’d never had another nightmare involving the cube.

  Other dark and demented dreams were something else. They’d started just after I’d entered puberty.

  The cold shiver trickling through me was intense enough I held my arms, my entire body quivering.

  I don’t know why I was thinking about my childhood other than what I’d seen in Gabriel’s eyes. Maybe I was losing all touch with reality, but I’d been able to see straight into his mind as well as a portion of his soul. The truth. His real identity that he did everything in his power to hide.

  He was the wolf who’d saved my life. I was certain of it. Being born and raised in a small town in Louisiana, I’d been exposed to various beliefs about black magic and voodoo. Even though I knew there were still locals who believed in the religion, maybe I’d shoved my head into the sand in my assumption that the darker side of voodoo was no longer practiced, including the horrific sacrifice of animals. Maybe that’s why I’d become a veterinarian in the first place.

  I continued to stare out the window as the afternoon light began to wane, not really seeing anything but the thick clouds as they rolled in. Gabriel had left without saying anything other than he would return and I couldn’t go to the atrium or anywhere else, no matter the circumstances. His attempt at protection was oppressive.

  As I sipped my wine, the limited reflection in the glass allowed me to see just how comfortable Moose was in his surroundings. If I was right about Gabriel, no wonder my beautiful big baby boy was happy around the man.

  They were from the same gene pool.

  My God. What the hell was I thinking? That wasn’t possible. The myth around Lycans was just like the horrible nightmares I’d experienced.

  Impossible.

  Then why couldn’t I get it off my mind? I also continued to think about my fascination with werewolves that had stayed with me into adulthood. Hell, I’d watched every werewolf movie ever made more than once, had devoured every book. But werewolves and Lycans weren’t the same. Lycans weren’t forced to shift during a full moon. They could control when or if they did, maintaining their human form most of the time.

  But what if Lycans lost that control, fueled by a hunger they couldn’t explain? That would make them extremely dangerous.

  “Girl. You are losing it.” My God. How the hell would I know even if it was possible? Which it wasn’t. A fantasy. Nothing more. Not real.

  Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

  I took another gulp of wine, almost finishing the glass. My heart pinging irregular beats and my hand continuing to shake, I walked to the open bottle I’d placed on the coffee table, refilling to the rim. Moose didn’t bother opening his eyes, happily snoozing on the comfy bed. That alone seemed crazy to me. His life had been disrupted, but he was a happy boy.

  What was I?

  Disturbed.

  Angry.

  Confused.

  Excited.

  Every nerve in my body remained alive, tingling as if lit by a firecracker. All because of my extreme attraction and desire for the man who’d taken me away from my home.

  Away from danger.

  That was something I could no longer deny. Without Gabriel’s help, the attacks would have been successful. There was no way of knowing whether they intended on taking me hostage or killing me. Was I afraid of Gabriel? Not really, but there was no doubt he was having difficulty controlling his anger.

  As well as his hunger.

  I returned to the window, searching for answers that I wasn’t certain existed. Gabriel had been drawn to me, brought to the city in order to protect my life.

  My thoughts returned to my mother. It should have been obvious much earlier in my life that she believed voodoo was a true religion, paying homage to the spirits that affected our lives on a daily basis.

  Maybe I didn’t want to think of my mother as different.

  Yet she was.

  As I was trying to wrap my mind around the connection and the reason that she’d insisted I return home, I heard noise, the sound of the door opening, muffled voices.

  Gabriel was home.

  Home. Would I ever be able to call another location home again?

  He took his time walking into the room, not saying a word yet remaining just inside the doorway. I was able to see enough of his reflection to know he was pensive. I could swear I could hear his rapidly beating heart.

  Even more terrifying, I knew what he was thinking, felt his increasing hunger.

  He would soon devour me.

  I took another gulp of wine, my nerves kicking in over my own intense cravings. Out of the corner of my eye I studied him as he walked toward his bar, making himself a drink.

  Still silent, the only noise was the rapid beating of my heart echoing in my ears.

  The quiet was killing me.

  Moose suddenly detected Gabriel’s presence, barking once then racing toward him, my pup’s tail swirling as he squealed his greeting.

  I should remain disgusted that Moose could even tolerate such a man, but I realized that my dog was super sensitive to all aspects of evil. That meant Gabriel wasn’t a bad man. Yeah, right. I wanted to laugh, but the moment the two creatures shared was touching. When Gabriel whispered something to Moose, the pup reluctantly moved back to his perch on the dog bed, huffing as he almost immediately closed his eyes.

  “How do you do that?” I asked, indignant that the man had so much control over my dog.

  “Get him to obey? It’s very easy, Coraline. Moose respects my dominance. I am the alpha after all.”

  “Which is something you expect from me.”

  There was that look that he gave me when he was frustrated as well as amused.

  With a drink in his hand, Gabriel approached, his presence alone creating another wave of electric energy.

  “Tell me about your mother.”

  I was shocked at his request. Why the hell would he need to know? “Why? She’s moved on with her life.”

  “She lived in Louisiana for years, the same small town you returned to.” He crowded even closer, his form becoming oppressive.

  “Yes, she was born there. Why does that matter?”

  “Because she is the reason you changed your life, returning to the dark place. You had a life in New York, the ability to advance in your career, yet you chose to leave it, which doesn’t make any logical sense.”

  I laughed, more out of nervousness than anything else. “Why would you say that?”

  “I don’t really think I need to explain. You’ve been aware of the evil surrounding the city of Thibodaux your entire life, which is likely one reason that you purposely chose a university thousands of miles away. While you might have pushed the realization aside, somewhere in the hidden reaches of your mind, you were well aware of the atmosphere, men and women who believed in the old ways. You remained drawn to the area even after all these years. I find that… fascinating.”

  “Don’t kid yourself. I hate the city, the small-town ways. I just…”

  “Do you really? You have a connection to the old ways whether you choose to believe it or not.”

  My God. It was as if the man had been able to read my mind. “Old ways? You’re talking voodoo.” That’s exactly what I’d overheard outside the clothing store. The curse he’d mentioned involved black magic. Suddenly, my throat felt constricted as I remembered something else my mother had told me.

  “Beware of those who practice black magic, Coraline. They have evil in their hearts.”

  When he closed the distance between us, there was an extreme fire in his eyes, a heightened level of determination to unmask all the secrets I might hold inside. I turned to face him, barely able to keep my breathing on an even level. He was such a powerful man, igniting every desire as well as pushing me to the very edge of my sanity.

  “Yes, Coraline. I’m talking about the darkest side of voodoo, often called black magic, the malicious counterpart of the true religion, an aspect some Cajun families still believe in practicing today. But you already know that.”

  “Are you suggesting my mother engaged in these practices?” I countered, tilting my head in some small act of defiance.

  “That I don’t know. But you do. Don’t you, Coraline?”

  Stop saying my name. Stop it! His near accusation pissed me off, although I couldn’t deny the concept.

  “No, she didn’t. She believed in good things, allowing karma to take control,” I insisted, although a nagging remained in the pit of my stomach.

  “You’re so certain.”

  “She told me that there were those who practiced the dark side of voodoo and they were evil. What does it matter if she did anyway?”

  “Because you were brought back to Louisiana with a purpose in mind.”

  “What the hell purpose would that be?”

  Gabriel took his damn time answering, pushing my frustration to the outer limits. “A sacrifice. You were supposed to be the sacrifice to the spirits so many of Jade’s descendants believe in, which allows their world to remain safe from additional evil.”

  I glared at him, uncertain I’d heard him correctly. “Wait a minute. You honestly believe my mother would sacrifice me to… To what? Some crazy spirit she believed in? Are you out of your mind? My mother loved me. She would never do anything like that.” I tried to turn away from him but found it impossible. The draw to him was even greater than before. My throat dry and my pulse racing, I could barely think clearly let alone move even a few inches. How had he managed to have this kind of effect on me?

  “Do you deny the possibility?”

  Why I found it difficult to refute immediately was beyond me. I remained stunned at his accusations, confused as to what he was getting at. Yet a portion of my mind knew there was some truth to what he was saying. My heart felt heavy, my mind almost a complete blur. “Why would she consider such a horrific act?” I was barely able to recognize my voice. That just couldn’t be. Why warn me then bring me back? I rubbed my eyes, trying to make sense of anything.

  “Because it’s what she was taught to do. It’s also likely she had no choice.”

  “She wouldn’t do that. She was kind and loving.”

  He cocked his head, his eyes so damn piercing I was shoved into an altered state for a few seconds. Blinking, I forced myself to look away.

  “As I said. It’s possible she had no other choice.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I was the one who moved within inches of him, arching my back as I continued my glare of rebellion. However, the smokiness of his eyes, the sound of his deep baritone had already pushed me into feeling out of control around him.

  While I expected some sort of nasty retort, even a harsh reminder of his domination, he did little more than blow a swath of hot breath across my face, more out of frustration than anything else.