Tortured Soul Read online

  “Cyrus plans on marrying sometime soon and I want you to kidnap his fiancé. I know where she lives and the general layout of her home.” Adam stopped at the look on Jason’s face.

  “Are you joking?” Jason asked incredulously.

  “No.”

  Jason sat up. Clearly, he’d realized Adam meant business. “You want me to kidnap a female vamp and—”

  “She’s human.”

  “What?” Jason nearly shouted and leaned toward Adam. “Are you out of your mind? Do you know what kidnapping a human would start?”

  “Yeah, I’m very aware.” Adam stood up again and began pacing the room, running his fingers through his hair. His first plan was to gather all the Fighters and storm the King’s Coven during the day, but vampires didn’t necessarily sleep when the sun was up and breaking into the coven was virtually impossible. Even if they managed to break in, what if they couldn’t find her? Adam ran the risk of losing pack members. “Look, I am going out of my mind imagining all kinds of shit my sister is going through. I know the bastard has her and the only way I’m going to get her back is if I threaten his fiancé. It’s the only solution I’ve got. If you were in my position, you would do the same thing.”

  Jason just stared at him. He knew exactly how Adam felt. Werewolves, especially the Fighters, could feel the other’s emotions. Slowly but surely, Jason was beginning to see things through Adam’s eyes.

  Damn emotional bond.

  “Adam, are you sure this is what you want to do? If you give me your final word then I’ll do it, but I want you to be absolutely fucking sure.”

  Adam had to give his friend credit for being a little more understanding as opposed to the other Fighters. He could just hear Ramo’s big ass mouth telling him how stupid the plan was. Jason, however, was a dedicated Fighter. He did what was necessary for the pack and Adam knew he’d do anything to bring back Serena.

  Adam nodded gravely. “I want you to keep this between us for now. If I think about it any longer, I’m going to go fucking nuts. So here’s the plan…”

  ****

  Evangeline lifted her head from the crook of her arm and watched her sister come into her room through swollen eyes and a runny nose. The spacious room was purple with beige furnishings. A queen-sized bed lay between her two nightstands adorned with books and a chaise near the window. Her sister shut the door quietly and turned to face Evangeline.

  Katherine’s angelic face softened. She stood for a moment by the door in her skinny jeans and loose, cotton V-neck with concern written all over her face. The tables had turned on the girls. Katherine was three years younger than Evangeline and it was usually Evangeline swooping into her room trying to solve a problem Katherine managed to find herself in.

  At the age of nineteen, Katherine Wolcott was a bit too curious in her family’s opinion. Her sweet face belied the fact she was nosey, outspoken, and irrational and the Wolcott family counted their blessings every day that Katherine lived to be the young woman standing in front of her. Ten years ago her sister nearly died of leukemia. Memories of the awful ordeal caused the family to frequently overlook her outlandish ways.

  She sat on Evangeline’s four-poster bed and wrapped her in her arms. Evangeline savored her sister’s hug and unleashed more tears. Her soft cries were muffled in Katherine’s honey-colored hair. She soothed Evangeline with soft words and gentle rocking.

  The Wolcott sisters were both beautiful in their own way. Evangeline looked like their mother with deep red hair and green eyes while Katherine took after their father, sharing the same honey-colored hair and dark eyes. Katherine was also shorter than her sister at five feet, four inches tall and had a little more meat on her bones, whereas Evangeline was fit and statuesque, Katherine was more curvy and voluptuous. The only similarities between them were their full lips and almond-shaped eyes.

  Evangeline finally pulled away from her sister, closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. “I guess everyone knows now.”

  “Yeah. Dad just told us at dinner. Needless to say, none of us ate. Mom’s been crying ever since. I think she’s too scared to face you.” Katherine rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe this is happening.” Katherine reached for the Kleenex box on the nightstand and handed it to her sister.

  Evangeline wiped her eyes again and blew her nose. At first she’d wanted to be present when her father gave the family the news. She wanted to be there for her mother, to reassure her everything was going to work out fine, but her emotions had other plans. The fact was she didn’t know if everything was going to be fine. Hell, how did they know Cyrus Stewart would keep his word? She kept imagining the worst possible scenarios; locked up in the King’s Coven, while her father rotted in jail and her mother and sister wandered the streets begging.

  Evangeline retreated to her eerie calm mode again. She kept telling herself crying wasn’t going to solve anything, but as soon as she thought of the plans she had made for the future, or leaving her family’s home, her tears got the better of her.

  “I’m so mad right now I could scream. What was Dad thinking, gambling again? We were so past that. It’s like he was possessed,” Katherine said, her eyebrows furrowing over her deep brown eyes.

  Evangeline looked up at her sister, a thought coming to her. Katherine stared back questioningly. Evangeline chose to keep the thought to herself. She could tell Katherine was very upset and she worried about getting her too excited. She’d been in and out of remission but, for some odd reason, whenever Katherine would get overly upset she’d be back in the hospital. For the past three years she’d managed to stay in remission, and luckily chemotherapy, surgery and Evangeline had kept her sister from reliving that dreadful time.

  It was then Evangeline discovered her supernatural power.

  A simple, yet devastatingly draining act of placing her hand on Katherine’s chest healed her sister when she’d been at death’s door. Unfortunately, Katherine still couldn’t handle a lot of stress. Over the years Evangeline would heal her sister to spare her from going to the hospital, but her healing efforts severely weakened Evangeline and would render her useless for extraordinarily long periods of time.

  The Wolcott family decided to keep Evangeline’s healing capabilities quiet. God only knew what would happen if word got out she could cure the sick and wounded.

  “What?” her sister asked.

  Evangeline shook herself. “Nothing.” She leaned back against her headboard, determined to toughen up for her sister’s sake. “Look, I’m going to meet the king tomorrow night and hopefully I can persuade him to forget this stupid plan and allow us to pay him back over time. I mean seriously, what century does he think we’re living in?”

  Katherine shrugged and shook her head. They both stayed silent for a while as they thought about the crazy predicament their family was in. Katherine traced a pattern on the bed with her finger and Evangeline stared off into space with her arms crossed.

  Of course, Katherine broke the silence.

  She looked up, her expression hesitant as if she was sure Evangeline was going to blow up any minute. “I have a feeling Cyrus Stewart won’t let you go.”

  Evangeline’s panic-stricken face did not deter Katherine.

  “Come on, Eva, you’re the prettiest girl in town. The guy had to settle down some time and once he sets his sight on something, it’s usually his for the taking. I’m not saying it's right, and I’m really pissed he thinks he can take you away from us, but aren’t you a little curious?”

  “What the hell are you talking about, Katherine? Curious about what?” Evangeline stared at her sister as if she’d lost her mind.

  “Aren’t you curious about how it would be to live with a vampire? What’s more, married to one? You’ve been fascinated by them for most of your life, and now you’ll be married to one of the most powerful vampires in the world.” Katherine’s eyes grew bigger and bigger as she became more excited.

  Evangeline had to remind herself that her sister could b
e very naïve at times. She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, down her neck and finally clasped them together in her lap, hoping the gesture would calm her nerves. “I know you want to make me feel better, Kat, but please, stop talking.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry.” Katherine had the decency to look sheepish and got up from the four-poster and walked over to the window.

  Before Evangeline could slip into her I-hate-my-life state of mind, Katherine whirled around.

  “What the hell are you going to tell Richard?”

  Chapter Three

  Henry Wolcott, Evangeline’s great-great grandfather purchased the two-story house in Wilmington, Illinois back in the nineteenth century. It sat on a vast expanse of land on the north side of a creek just fifty miles south of Chicago. Evangeline walked through the first floor hall next to Richard in a daze. She’d called him over to tell him the bad news in person and they were now heading out through the back terrace and into the gardens. She didn’t stop along the extended path, but continued on, turning left toward the creek, all the while silent as the grave.

  The day mocked her sorrowful mood. The sun was still out this August evening with no cloud in sight and a light breeze in the air. It would have been a nice night for a stroll if she didn’t have to ruin it with a break-up.

  Richard was a high school math teacher at Wilmington High. His daughter was in one of Evangeline’s ballet classes for five and six year olds.

  Evangeline hadn’t had many boyfriends. Men were too intimidated by her wealth and beauty.

  After a year of mild flirtation, Richard finally asked her out. They had only been dating three weeks, but things had been going smoothly. Relaxed and well mannered at the age of thirty-one, Richard was of medium built and stood only about an inch or two taller than Evangeline.

  She glanced in his direction and smiled nervously, having no idea how to broach the subject. Should she tell him the truth or make up a lie? Getting more people involved made her uncomfortable, but Evangeline didn’t want to hurt him either by lying. She decided to go with half-truth and let the cards fall as they may.

  They were out of the gardens now and headed toward a small wooden bridge. The view from the middle was picturesque. From where they stood, they could see the sun begin to set behind the house, the gardens, the creek, and the woods. The bridge stretched about eight yards over the creek and onto the other side where it met a thin trail into the Midewin woods.

  “You look beautiful as ever tonight,” Richard said.

  Evangeline silently cursed herself. She’d told Richard over the phone she could not make their date tonight, but needed to talk to him in person. Now, here she was, in a black strapless, cocktail dress and stilettos. Richard probably thought she was blowing him off for another guy. Well…wasn’t she?

  Richard grabbed her left hand from the bridge’s rail and turned her toward him. “What’s wrong, Eva? Talk to me.”

  She looked at his soft eyes and imagined what it would be like to marry a man like Richard. He was a good father, sweet and caring and she knew he would take good care of her. Their relationship, if she could call it that, was just barely taking off with few dates a week and a couple of make out sessions. Evangeline was attracted to him, but she wished there were a little more heat between them. She thought they’d have time to build on this, but it looked like fate had other plans. Scratch that. Not fate, but Cyrus Stewart.

  Evangeline held onto his warm hands as she spoke. “Richard, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be able to see you again.” She hoped she didn’t sound cold or heartless. She had never broken up with someone before. Her last real boyfriend had been her first and he ended up taking off without a word.

  Richard stiffened and he frowned. He looked down at their hands before speaking. “Why?” His voice came out different, deeper than it naturally was.

  She took a deep breath. “My family is going through a rough time right now and unfortunately, it has put me in a very difficult position. I can’t bring you into this and I think it’s best if we just remained friends.” There, she wasn’t exactly lying and it wasn’t too harsh.

  He looked up at her. “Whatever it is, I’ll help you through it, Eva. Let me be there for you.” He gripped her hands tightly.

  Damn it, she knew this was going to be hard. She wished she could give him a better explanation, but what could she say? My family is broke so I’m going to marry the vampire king. It was nice knowing you. Maybe she should tell him the real truth, but she wasn’t ready to face reality yet and she couldn’t let him hang in the balance while she attempted to sort the situation out. As if she had any say in the matter. Her sister was right. Evangeline had little hope of persuading Cyrus Stewart to call off the engagement.

  She looked at him with a small smile and hoped her expression looked less tense. “I really wish things were different. I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t. I don’t want to drag you into this mess. I’ll understand if you don’t want to be friends, but I hope you’ll still bring Jalynn to her lessons.”

  She tried to back away slowly, but Richard reached around her and pulled her into his arms. His slight force surprised her. Richard was always gentle with her. “I’m not going to fight you on this. You do what you need to do for your family, but I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Richard, you can’t—”

  “Don’t,” he warned as he reached up and held her chin in his hand, his other firmly held her against his body. He was lean and hard. It was the first time she felt a measure of excitement in his arms. Now of all times…

  He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her mouth. Evangeline let him kiss her, thinking this might be the last time she’d enjoy it.

  There was a sudden rumble of some kind, a low growl and they both jumped. They looked around and saw nothing. Richard half turned and looked into the woods, his gaze searching. Evangeline looked too, but the trees were thick and all she saw was green everywhere.

  “You heard that, right?” he asked.

  “Yeah. It sounded like a growl, but I don’t see anything.”

  “Let’s get you inside.” He grabbed her hand and they walked back toward the house, completely unaware of the wolf hidden beyond the trees.

  ****

  What the hell is wrong with him?

  The Blacktail alpha silently turned and trotted off further into the Midewin woods. Adam ran, in full werewolf form, at a slow pace. Always in stealth mode, his paws lightly hit the forest floor as he went.

  Contrary to fantasy belief, true werewolves were able to shift whenever they wanted. It was only during the full moon they had no say in the matter. They had to shift.

  He shook his furry black mane from his eyes. Adam had gone to assess the layout of the Wolcott estate on his own. Jason was setting up at the cabin in the far northwest region of the woods. They were meeting up to plan the strategy of getting Cyrus’ fiancé out of the house. Adam had located a side entrance to the Wolcott estate which would be easy enough to open. Once inside, Jason could sniff out Evangeline’s bedroom. Earlier, they had broken into Evangeline’s studio and found her locker with a sweater and a pair of worn out slippers inside. They’d use her scent to locate her in the house.

  What Adam had not anticipated, was running into Evangeline herself. He’d caught sight of her with some guy as soon as they’d left the house. Werewolves had great vision and even as far as she was, Adam could see she was stunning.

  He should have left the second he saw her, but something compelled him to get a closer look. Standing on his hind legs, as werewolves were basically man-shaped wolves, and not shapeshifters, walked along the forest edge as they came closer. His gaze remained riveted on her.

  As he drew closer, he reached out with his extra hearing senses to listen to their conversation. She was dumping the poor bastard.

  He snorted to himself. She was probably a spoiled little heartless bitch. Engaged to Cyrus Stewart now, so she had to let go of all her other lovers. He thought
of leaving until she spoke again. Without realizing it, he made several more steps closer to the couple.

  Her voice was melodic and Adam found himself staring at her, hard. His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath. Yep. The sweater in the ballet studio was definitely hers. Adam’s eyes felt heavy in an instant as he breathed in her sweet scent. Jesus.

  He shouldn’t have cared, but he wanted to feel her emotion, to see if she was as genuine as she sounded. As soon as he was close enough, he picked up on a pretty strong feeling. Surprised at what his senses read, Adam took in the overwhelming sorrow that engulfed her. She was hurting, bad.

  Before Adam could process her feelings, he picked up on Ol’ boy’s emotion. The guy went from devastated to aroused in a second. He watched as the guy grabbed her, pulled her tightly against him and planted one right on her full lips.

  Adam wasn’t aware of his reaction until he saw the two of them jump and glance in his direction. He realized too late the rumble they’d heard had come from him.

  Why the hell had he reacted like that? What did he care if this girl wanted to get her fill of a man before she married another?

  Adam picked up the pace and reached the old cabin deep in the woods about fifteen minutes later. He could have made the trip in two minutes if he wasn’t all up in his head.

  Jason stepped out of the cabin and down the wide steps leading up to the small front porch. His second in command watched as he shifted back into human form. The process was never a pretty sight. The sound of shifting bones and tendons reverberated in the air as Adam shrank back to his six foot six inch frame. When it was done, Adam’s huge naked body was on all fours. He stood up fast, used to the pain involved and brushed it off without a care.

  His beta held out a pair of jeans and t-shirt. Adam took the clothes and put them on. “Everything set?” he asked as he thrust one leg into the jeans.

  Jason stuck one hand in his back pocket and gestured toward the house with the other. “Yeah. I put bars on all the windows. The back door is nailed shut and she’s not getting past me to the front door. The bedroom is clean and there is food in the fridge. We’ll have air conditioning and water too, but it looks like the weather is gonna be cool.”