“On my way to Avery’s.”
“Good. We’ll be waiting.”
CHAPTER 59
MY MOOD IS FAR DIFFERENT ON THIS TRIP TO see Sandra than it was on the first. No fancy dress, no sexual fantasies buzzing around my head like wasps around water. I want two things this time—free Sandra and send Avery to hell where he belongs. Every day I learn more about what it means to be a creature who is not human, and every day I find another reason to hate what I’ve become. If the alternative were not so bleak, if I didn’t have my family and David to counterbalance the evil, it might be an unbearable burden.
What I’m going to do when they are no longer part of my life, I refuse to consider.
My eyes keep straying to the rearview mirror. It’s been two days since Williams’ watchdog and I had that unintentional run-in at Mister A’s. During that time, I’ve yet to spot Tom’s Escalade. Either he’s changed vehicles or he’s been pulled off the case by Williams and I have a new shadow.
Or Williams called off the surveillance altogether. Maybe he thinks it’s no longer necessary to tail me since I won’t be around much longer to cause him grief. One bite from a werewolf, and it’s good-bye, Anna. Something he’s wanted since the beginning. In spite of his lofty rhetoric, I’ve felt his resentment grow. He hasn’t been able to fashion me in his own image any more than Avery could. And like Avery, allowing me to live as I wish is something he can’t seem to accept.
Fuck him.
CHAPTER 60
A VERY’S GATE IS OPEN, AND I PULL THE MUSTANG up to the front door. It’s easier to be here during the day. I pocket the car keys and start toward the door. It opens and Tamara steps out to meet me. She’s dressed in jeans and a tight red jersey knit top. She’s had a haircut since I saw her last. A fresh, feathery style that makes her look more feminine.
Too bad David is never going to get a chance to appreciate the effort.
“Cool car,” she says. “What happened to the Jag?”
“Oh, you didn’t hear? Somebody vandalized it. Looked like it was attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Imagine, in the middle of the day on a crowded street. Shocked the hell out of David and me.”
Her lips form an O of surprise, but her eyes reflect only cold amusement.
“If the stunt was meant to get my attention,” I say, “it worked. Here I am.”
Tamara’s look is cool, appraising. “David doesn’t know what you are, does he?”
“No more than he knows what you are. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m here to help Sandra. Then I expect you and the rest of the pack to be on your way. No dinner date. No good-bye kiss. David is not going to become your mate or fuck buddy or whatever the hell you call males pressed into stud service. It’s not going to happen, Tamara.”
I didn’t plan that speech. The words erupted when I saw the new, improved Tamara and guessed her game plan. As soon as they did, though, I had the stomach-clenching feeling that I’d said too much. Nothing like tipping your hand. Not too smart.
Tamara doesn’t react the way I expect. No heated rebuttal. No threats. No hands-on-hips declaration that I can’t stop her from doing whatever she wants. Her eyes and mouth tighten a bit at the corners. Then the shadow passes and she smiles. “You been practicing that speech?”
“Where’s Sandra?”
She stands aside and points up the stairs. “Waiting for you. She isn’t feeling well. Avery is preventing her from making the change. Do you know what that means?”
I gesture for her to go ahead of me—now that I know the consequences of a bite, I’m not about to turn my back on her. Then, I answer her question. “Yes. He’s hidden her talisman. She’ll die without it.”
She nods. All I see in her eyes now is concern. “I’ve turned this place inside out. I’m hoping since you lived here for a while, you’d know if he had a hiding place. Something I’ve overlooked.”
I do know, and Avery did have a hiding place. Before I share, I want to set one thing straight. “I didn’t live here. Not really. Avery treated me in the hospital after I was attacked. He said he would help me through the transition. He never mentioned a wife. I can’t seem to make anyone understand that I have no interest in his estate. If Sandra wants it, she can have it. I haven’t touched anything, nor had I been in the house before Saturday. Not once since he tried to kill me. Do you understand?”
Tamara listens with her head tilted, her hand on the doorknob to the front door. “There’s only one thing wrong with your story,” she says. “The part about not having any interest in the estate. Not exactly true, is it?”
“What are you talking about? I said I haven’t been in the house. If something is missing, I didn’t take it. Williams said there was a caretaker. Maybe—”
Tamara holds up a hand and laughs. “I don’t think a caretaker arranged this.”
“Arranged what?”
She turns her back on me and opens the door. “Arranged to have Avery’s vineyard in France transferred to your parents,” she says. “Avery is very angry about that.”
CHAPTER 61
TAMARA IS WALKING AHEAD OF ME, INTO THE house. My own feet are rooted to the spot. It never occurred to me that the vineyard my parents “inherited” was Avery’s. I didn’t even remember before this moment that he owned one. How the hell was it possible that his winery ended up with my parents? Who could have made such a thing happen?
As soon as I ask myself that, the answer is there.
Williams.
It has to be. He’d been Avery’s friend for hundreds of years. He knew everything about him. He was overseeing the estate because I wanted no part of it.
He wanted me free of human influence. He must have set this in motion months ago, before he knew about Sandra. It would take time to come up with a phony family tree and lay the foundation for the “inheritance.”
Tamara stops when she realizes I’m not behind her and turns around. She studies me for a moment. “You didn’t know? For real?”
I’m too dazed to do more than shake my head.
“Then who?” She pauses and a sharp flash of surprise widens her eyes. “Williams.”
My turn to reflect surprise. “You know Williams?”
“Yes.”
It’s all she says. Then, “We should go to Sandra.”
She moves off and I rouse myself to follow. My brain is still trying to process the implications of Williams’ treachery. No wonder he came to see me at Glory’s. He said nothing that prepared me for this, but he knew Sandra was about to discover what he’d done. Did he find out that Avery had come back in her body? I doubt it. Otherwise, he would not have been so calm. He’d know once Avery took care of me, he was likely to be next.
He almost got away with it, didn’t he? My family may be packing right now for a future that can never happen. A future that’s a lie. And I played right into it. I was suspicious, but I never connected the legacy to Avery.
Sandra coming here must have really upset Williams’ plans. Did he decide to cut his losses? Feed me to the wolves and hope his part in the deception would go undiscovered?
Tamara has moved through the foyer and, instead of going to the living room, starts upstairs. I realize I have to pay attention to what’s happening now or risk the consequences of being caught off guard by a werewolf who suspects me of deceit. Sandra (or Avery) knew all along what I’ve just found out. I doubt they’ll believe it, though. I wouldn’t.
Another shock wave hits when I realize where Tamara is taking me. Avery’s bedroom. Shit. It was bad enough being in his living room. A tumble of emotions, all negative and too strong to deal with rationally, causes a predictable reaction.