In the Beginning... Read online

  Jason to be the official head of the Dardano lab.”

  The wolf nodded. “I think that will work for him. If he’s satisfied that Josey is happy and safe where she’s at.”

  “Jocelyn is happy and safe where she’s at. I am the one who decides her future from now on.” Cormac would make that abundantly clear to whomever questioned it.

  “Do not assume so, my friend.” The demon smirked at him. “If our Josey decides she does not wish to be with you, you will not stop her father nor I from removing her from your care.”

  “Demon, quit it. Josey is fine where she’s at, and I would appreciate you stop needling my brother.” Kindara’s words were mild, spoken from where she still sat on the demon’s lap. Cormac could not fathom what she thought she was doing.

  But she seemed oddly comfortable on the male’s lap. Damned incubus. He would definitely need to find a way to deal with the demon before too long.

  “Can we continue?” Dhan Emily asked. “Josey is already at work on the logistics of this. Staffing, and equipment requisitions. We’re looking at getting this going as quickly as possible. Mickey is gathering all the necessary legal documents, as well.”

  “So without speaking with the Board, then?” The wolf smacked the table with an open palm, his irritation easy to see.

  “Why should we speak with the Board?” his twin asked from her position beside her Rajni. “Half the new board is already present or has given approval. Mickey and Josey, Emily and myself. That just leaves you and Marshall. Uncle Jason and Dad. This is going to happen, Rand. Just suck it up and get used to it.”

  The wolf growled. Aodhan hissed, putting a hand on his female’s shoulder to keep her in place as he shifted in front of her. He poised to attack. Cormac tensed, ready to assist his comrade.

  “Oh, can it! Both of you!” the female pulled away from Aodhan and glared at her own brother. “I’m not too happy with you right now, bro.”

  “When are you ever?” The wolf turned to Aodhan. “Don’t ever interfere with us again.”

  “That’s enough!” Dhan Emily stood and looked at everyone around the table. For one so small, she certainly had a commanding presence. She would suit his best friend well. Cormac looked at his sister again, to check on her like he had always done. She was even closer to the demon, whispering softly in his ear. What were they saying? “We have other things to deal with than stupid male posturing.”

  Before much else could be said, the far door was flung open. A male with black hair stood panting in the frame, eyes trained on the redheaded wolf. “Rand, we—”

  The man stopped mid-sentence. Sniffed the air as he looked around. His eyes— green like the rest of the Taniss clan—landed on Cormac.

  Cormac tensed, sensing the other man’s animosity clearly. Who was he? Why had he trained his attention on Cormac? If it was a fight the bastard wanted, it was a fight he’d be getting. Cormac tensed. Grinned a feral grin.

  The man lunged forward, knocking Cormac to the ground. At the first contact Cormac had no trouble reading the man’s fury, his animal hatred. Another Lupoiux, then. This one bent on killing Cormac where he stood. The Lupoiux was strong, almost surprisingly so. Another alpha, like his redheaded brethren. Strange that two alphas would be found in the same home. Usually Lupoiux alphas fought when together.

  The wolf slashed a clawed hand across Cormac’s shirt, ripping the skin beneath. Cormac laughed. This was the fight, the challenge, he had been aching for. The wolf pulled him to the ground and the two grappled for several minutes.

  Cormac swore when the wolf proved stronger than he’d expected—he would go home to his Rajni with more than a few bruises.

  His Rajni.

  The wolf shared the same eyes. The same blood.

  Fuck the goddess! He couldn’t kill the wolf any more than he could kill the demon.

  Strong hands yanked him and the wolf apart. Cormac put up a show of resistance, but he knew it would have to end there. “He smells like my daughter! Where’s Josey?” Cormac backed off to stare at the man.

  His woman’s father was another damned dog. How in nine hells had that happened?

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  His woman’s father glared at him from across the chopper. The black haired wolf kept his younger daughter close, but his eyes were all for Cormac. Full of fury and questions.

  They would have another opportunity to finish their battle. Cormac had no doubt about that. The sound of the blades made conversation impossible, but before he let the damned wolf near his Rajni, Cormac would be finding out how the once human had become a Lupoiux. How was he to tell his Jocelyn that her father was one of the very creatures who had nearly killed her?

  It had been obvious in the way she spoke of her father that she adored the man. And the way he held the younger girl made it clear he loved his daughters equally strong. So how had two of Jocelyn’s relatives become Lupoiux and attracted the friendship of a demon?

  The father had done nothing but glare and growl at him since the moment the demon had separated the fight. It was obvious his female's father wanted nothing more than to kill him. Interesting. Had the Lupoiux not brought word that forty more of his Kind had surrounded the Taniss vacation home and Dahr Rydere not offered the Taniss relatives sanctuary in Dardano, Cormac knew his Rajni's father would have provoked him until they had finished the fight between them.

  Instead the wolf watched Cormac's every move from the opposite side of the helicopter. Cormac fought a laugh. His damned father-in-law was a fucking dog. What had the goddess been thinking?

  ****

  The research she was doing while she waited for the damned vampire man to return with word from her family wasn’t holding her attention. And it probably wouldn’t for very long. Josey ate lunch with Mickey in the small restaurant off the side of the lobby. It was filled with favorite human favorites. Probably for the human guests who stayed in the hotel, not knowing what danger they were putting themselves in. Josey had no trouble identifying humans from Dardaptoans by now. Dardaptoans usually wore the vestis and pardus sets in various colors. And they were all tall and lean. The humans all wore current fashion and had the look of travelers and mixed body types.

  It was definitely weird mixing with both humans and vampires. To knowing that her original species were merely food for her now. The idea of feeding from the people wandering the hotel lobby sickened her. Would she ever get used to it? She could not just feed from him for the rest of her life, could she?

  It hadn’t been so disgusting tasting him. Where was he now? Was he sitting in the dining room at the vacation home? Was Claudette serving him some of her famous desserts?

  It was strange, but she knew he wasn’t in the building with her. Knew that she couldn’t just speak with him anytime she wanted, like she could when he was in her general vicinity.

  She was preoccupied for most of the early afternoon, having difficulty taking any kind of notes from the texts spread across the desk. She closed the last one and drummed her fingers on the worn leather cover. It was an old book, listing common creatures from each of the nine realms. She had had a hard time understanding the concept that this world she lived in wasn’t the only one. Eight others existed, and each of the nine realms was populated by beasts and beings that ranged from dragons to humanesque to water creatures.

  It would take her years just to read about each one, and their physiologies. And that was with the information all neatly recorded in Kindara’s precise handwriting in two volumes titled Creatures of the Nine.

  The drawer where the grandfather files were stored beckoned her.

  Hadn’t it been long enough that she’d waited? She knew the images were bad— Em had said she’d been shown some. But shouldn’t she read the information and get it over with? What if her grandfather had found something that could actually benefit the Dardaptoan people? What if Kindara had overlooked the finds, or been unable to deal with what she had seen and had missed a vital piece of research?
r />   Josey stood.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Two hours later and she’d wiped most of the tears away. Her vampire man hadn’t lied. If anything, he’d downplayed the extent of her grandfather’s actions.

  Her grandfather had been photographed even. Doing cruel, torturous things. How could he do that?

  He hadn’t stopped with adults; she’d found fourteen files he’d created on children. Babies. Jierra was identified by name.

  She’d lost every bit of the lunch she’d eaten.

  What made what he’d done so much worse was the maniacal enjoyment she’d had no difficulty seeing. It had been especially evident on videos. How could he take so many videos of the atrocities he was performing?

  She estimated some of the videos and files were at least fifty years old. He’d been torturing people for more than twice her lifetime.

  She washed her face in the small restroom off her office, then looked at herself in the mirror. Did the evidence of her tears show?

  She hoped not.

  The knock at the door vibrated the room—a setup the vampire man had had installed the day after he’d first shown her this office.

  She hadn’t had to ask, he’d just done it. For her.

  Suddenly, inexplicably, she felt a rush of longing. For him. At least for his voice, his presence in her mind. Had she become that accustomed to him in so short of a time?

  Right then she didn’t want to see a single member of her family. The thought of being associated with the people who were responsible for so many Dardaptoan deaths, so much pain and suffering, made her more sick than she’d ever felt in her life.

  No wonder so many of the Dardaptoan people backed away from her and her cousins. They had to know who she, Mickey, Mal, and Em were.

  Why had Cormac and his friends not killed them? Not acted against their family before?

  Josey opened the door when the knock sounded again. It was the girl Bronwen, Theo’s little sister. She had her brother’s kind eyes, and the physician in Josey had had little difficulty seeing the young woman was going blind, as well. It was in the way Bronwen looked at things.

  Bronwen smiled and spoke, looking directly at Josey. Someone had obviously told Bronwen that Josey read lips.

  “Yes?” Josey didn’t often speak, though she still remained a working percentage of her speaking ability. She couldn’t hear the sounds, but she could feel them as they left her voice.

  Bronwen smiled, before speaking again. Josey read the words carefully. “Your family and Rajni have returned. They request you join them in the front garden.”

  Josey nodded. “Thank you.” She signed as she spoke, habit more than anything. Bronwen bowed. “You’re welcome.”

  Josey followed the other woman up the steps and into the lobby. The front gardens waited, and she could see the sight of the six helicopters landing on the landing pads six hundred feet away.

  Her family was in those helicopters.

  He was in one of them. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see him, right now. But she couldn’t hide inside the hotel—what right did she have to do that? She waited on the steps until the helicopters emptied and the passengers walked up the path toward the hotel.

  She didn’t recognize them at first. Then a blonde head separated from the crowd.

  Josey flew down the steps. Jade met her halfway, followed closely by their father. Josey wrapped her arms around both of them and just clung to them. Bronwen had been right—her family really was on the helicopters. But what were they doing here?

  Her vampire man was there, then, and Josey turned toward him. Why are they here?

  Did you force them?

  No. Although I think your sister has a crush on Barlaam.

  Then why are my father and sister and Rand here? Why did you bring them?

  Because the Lupoiux pack that attacked you had surrounded them. We have offered them shelter. We’re being nice now, apparently. His hands were on her shoulders and she was pulled from her father’s arms. Come now. Let your father and sister breathe!

  Back off, vampire. I see you got your sister and niece back. Are they ok? Josey focused on the two women walking between Barlaam and Emily’s Rajni. Neither looked injured, but both were dispirited. What had Rand and Rathan done to them? They look so tired.

  They are. Your cousin and the demon made them walk through the woods in forty degree weather for three fucking days!

  Demon? I’m confused.

  There’s a lot you apparently don’t know. Your cousin’s pal is a damned demon. An incubus to be exact. Meaning, he—

  Feeds on sex! No way! Rathan is not one of those things! Although, from what Josey had read, incubi were sex demons. And she had always thought Rathan was the sexiest man alive. But didn’t incubi feed from the women around them? Had Rathan fed from her? From her cousins? And they not know? Wow.

  He better not have brushed against you! I can still kill him!

  Cormac meant it; Josey had no difficulty seeing that. Get over yourself, vampire. I’ve been with men before!

  His growl echoed in her head.

  Josey’s dad had his arm wrapped around her shoulders and she kept pace with him, though she was clearly aware of Cormac’s presence.

  She was glad her father was with the group. She had a lot she needed to discuss with him. About these people, about the things her grandfather had done.

  Does my father know what you are? What Rathan apparently is?

  Cormac’s hand wrapped around hers, startling her. She hadn’t expected him to touch her in front of her father, for some reason. She should have known he would. He was the kind of man who had to make his presence known. Jocelyn…

  She tensed. Whenever he used that tone, it was something she wasn’t going to like. What? What is it?

  Have you ever noticed your father and cousin being…different?

  Josey slowed. Her father slowed with her. Josey pulled her hand out of the vampire’s and signed to her father that she was fine. That she and Cormac had things to talk about. That he should go with Mallory while she spoke with Cormac and his sister.

  Her father was reluctant, but he took her at her word. She didn’t catch the words he spoke to Cormac; she knew he deliberately turned away where she wouldn’t see his lips move.

  What did he say? Tell me. She dug her fingers into Cormac’s hand until he looked at her.

  He warned me not to hurt you. That you looked unhappy.

  Josey looked at her father where he stood beside her little sister. He was so tall, strong. Looked far younger than his years. She forced herself to speak. “I’m ok, Daddy. I promise. Now go.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Cormac’s brows rose in surprise. He’d never heard her speak before. Her words were the characteristic tones of a deaf person, but her voice sounded perfect to him. Why do you not speak more often?

  Because I can’t hear what I say. At least with signing, I control how it comes across. Why? A good majority of deaf people can talk, you know. I just prefer not to that often.

  Just curious. I far prefer this type of communication between us. It's more private. Intimate.

  What were you saying about my father? About him being different?

  Cormac waited until her father and sister and the rest of the newcomers had entered the hotel lobby and been assigned rooms before he once again found her. She was back out on the porch, staring at the helicopters with a strange expression on her face.

  He stepped up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

  Jocelyn. He pulled his Rajni with him toward one of the large rocking chairs that had sat on the porch for decades. It would be a bit cold for them outside, but it guaranteed them privacy. He sank into the chair and tugged her down onto his lap.

  Jocelyn.

  Just spit it out. I’m tired of waiting.

  Always so impatient, his Rajni.

  Your father, your cousin—both are Lupoiux. I’m not sure how, you’ll have to ask them. But the
re is no doubt they are not human. My best guess is they were both bitten. When, I’m not sure. You never knew your father was different, did you? Cormac understood it. How would he have felt, suddenly turning into an animal, and knowing he had two young human children to protect? How old had Jocelyn been when her father had first turned?

  No. You’re lying. My father is not one of them! She stiffened in his lap, tried to pull away. Cormac wouldn’t let her.

  Why would I lie when you can ask your father yourself next you see him? I first suspected when he tried to rip out my throat because I simply smelled like you. Then I had it confirmed by your cousin when they were speaking of the number of people on the property. In fact, your father and cousin share the position of alpha in an oddly un-Lupoiux way. I’ve never heard of a pack with two alphas. Even those that are related.

  My father does not have a pack. He doesn’t. He is not an animal!

  Isn’t he?

  No! He’s not one of…those things!

  Her face was tight, stubborn. He knew then she wouldn’t believe him until her father uttered the words. She shivered against him and he realized it was more than that. It wasn’t just her being resistant to him. It was fear. You can ask him. Later. At dinner; your cousin is arranging a family dinner for you and the others. You can discuss it with him, then. I don’t have to even be there if you don’t want me to. Just you and your family, ok?

  He waited until she nodded. I met your sister today. She is like a younger vision of you.

  We look alike, yes. Me, her, Becca, Mickey, even Cass, though her hair is darker than Emily’s. She’s in the same wing as Em. We look like our fathers. Who look like their mother. Some of my boy cousins, like Rand, look like him.

  Like who?

  My grandfather. Rand looks like him the most. Except for the reddish hair. I watched the videos. And read the files. He really did that. All that stuff.