I Kissed a Dog

chapter 42

Dying without telling the world how much I loved Zane was unacceptable.

Through the fog-like-dizziness of severe blood loss, the words I’d longed to speak floated from my mouth, barely audible: “Zane, I love you … you. I want to be your mate, your wife, your everything. It’s too …” My next word, late, was drowned by Valamir’s snarl.

He released me and leapt back.

I straightened up, an unfamiliar power coursing through my limbs. A ripple of heat ringed my ankle, forming what felt like an anklet of fiery metal.

Ignoring the vampire’s snarls turned hisses; I bent to examine my leg. I yanked the red wig from my stocking and tossed it at Valamir, who despite his discomfort caught it with ease.

A circle of sigils bordered my ankle. They seemed to writhe on my skin like miniature snakes. Unable to restrain my curiosity, I touched the foreign markings and was sucked into a portal of black nothingness. Not the response I’d expected.

Valamir, the bonfire, Jazmine, everything had vanished.

I stood somewhere, but nowhere.

For the first time, I noticed a metallic taste in my mouth. Searching my recent memories, I recoiled. At some point during Valamir’s little blood bath, I’d consumed his tainted blood, and then I’d activated the mating mark. The repercussions of these two interrelated actions would without question cause some future abnormality ¯ yet another group of bizarre gifts or talents to unwrap.

Approaching footsteps drew my attention. Despite the gloom, I was able to make out a familiar figure. My worries were swallowed by the joy exploding like fireworks in my heart.

Zane.

No longer held hostage by fear, I raced toward him.

Flinging my arms around his neck and wrapping my legs around his waist I clung to him, tears streaming down my cheeks. Our lips met and he kissed me with such ferocity I thought he might devour me whole. I felt his presence everywhere. My tongue strokes matched his, and I wondered how I’d ever thought Valamir had anything over my werewolf.

“Princess,” he murmured stroking my hair. “We don’t have long …”

Ignoring his warning, I pulled his head down and kissed him with zeal. Forget the mutant war; I wanted my man.

His hands roamed, leaving trails of sizzling pleasure in their wake. I arched, pressing my pelvis against his hardness, embracing a refreshing, new brazenness. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered between kisses. “Can you forgive me? I love you.”

Gentle but firm, he held my shoulders, untangling himself from the web of my arms and legs. “I forgave you the minute I thought I’d lost you. Alcuin broke his code of silence.” Zane gazed down at me, his eyes glowing amber.

At the mention of Alcuin, panic returned, overriding my passion. “Don’t trust him! He may have sold us out.”

“He’d never …” Zane paused, looking thoughtful. “He said he’d explain everything this evening. Logan wanted to speak with him first about the spell he suspected we’d translated from the coins.”

“Just Alcuin knew my whereabouts.”

“Speaking of, where are you, right now? This place …” he glanced around, “is a temporary dimension where mates are united if they’re not together when the final markings appear. I always thought it was just a legend. It seems the legends are real.”

I noticed then that the darkness was receding, and Zane was fading with it. “I don’t know where I am. Some abandoned school on an Indian reservation in Washington. Jazmine’s the redhead.” I blurted.

He nodded. “I know. Chloe …”

“Zane! No!” A rush of anger tore through me as I was swept away, back to the school.

I felt cheated. Would we ever have time together, alone, without some supernatural tsunami looming over us? Would we even survive? Now that we were mated, the idea of living without him was intolerable.

To make matters worse, Valamir was waiting where I’d left him, looking smug, surrounded by the overgrown shrubbery. I could hear shouts in the distance.

“Your fighting friends have lost the spotlight and your captors have noticed your absence,” he announced, as if I wasn’t well aware of the mess I was in.

Under the horrendous circumstances, and not sure what else to do, I begged. “I know you hate me. I’m sorry, but I love Zane. You’re gorgeous, sexy, and all that, but you keep biting me.” I shook my head, hoping to clear it enough to make sense. It was obvious by Valamir’s twitching mouth that he was fighting to keep from smiling.

“Will you help me, please?”

“Chloe, I have never refused the passionate plea of a lady. True, you are, for the moment, not mine. But I have an eternity to win your favor. So, I’ll start now. What do you want of me?”

“That wig! Will you take it to Plum Beach and give it to Detective Davis or Officer Tate? No one else. Especially not Agent Green,” I warned. Loud voices and stampeding feet were drawing closer.

“It would be my pleasure. Anything else?” He let his gaze linger on my breasts a moment too long, despite my rejection.

I was frantic, there had to be something more I could request, a way to take advantage of his attraction. “Will you return and help us get out of here?”

“And what will I get for my efforts?” His lip curled. “You’ve asked me to complete not one, but two tasks, Chloe Carpenter. And Vampires, although chivalrous, at times, do not offer their services for free.”

Panicked by the chaos closing in, I sealed our deal with something far more dangerous than a kiss. “I’ll owe you a favor when you need it.” I realized too late that I’d pretty much left the door wide open. A favor for a vampire could mean any number of things. How could I be so stupid?

“It is as you wish.”

The glittery trail that was Valamir vanished into the night sky, leaving me to face a furious Jazmine and her army of traitorous mutants.