Praise for Charlene Teglia’s novels
“Action
packed and ferociously seductive.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“A
must-read.”
—The Road to Romance
“A
gem of a tale.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews
“An
author who never leaves readers wanting—except maybe for her next
book.”
—Romance Junkies
Praise for Sasha White’s novels
“Unabashedly
erotic”
—Romance Reviews Today
“Will
have readers panting for more.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews
“The
heat is on…and it never cools down.”
—Midwest Book Reviews
“Creates
a carnal haze that envelopes the readers, caresses their
sense…deliciously decadent.”
—The Romance Studio
A Rock & A Hard Place
by
Charlene Teglia
&
Sasha White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Mad Stone Copyright © 2011 Charlene Teglia
Rock My World Copyright © 2011 Sasha White
Cover art by April Martinez
Electronic book Publication April 2011
This story is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the authors’ imagination, or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
MAD STONE
by Charlene Teglia
“A
Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of
Bread—and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness—
O,
Wilderness were Paradise enow!”
—The Rubáiyát of Omar
Khayyám
1
“A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou,” I quoted, taking in the atmosphere. Our white cloth-draped table held a tea candle in a teardrop crystal bulb. A matching bud vase with a single long-stemmed rose subtly perfumed the air. Strains of a Brahms melody drifted from the pianist on the other side of the restaurant. All the trappings were there. “When you guys promise a romantic dinner, you deliver.”
Although maybe most romantic dinner reservations weren’t for three.
David, typically, said nothing. He was too busy sitting with his back toward the wall and scanning the room for potential threats. But he did glance at me when I spoke, the gray of his eyes far from cold. Set in a hard face framed with the black shock of his hair that was probably still military regulation short, the heat and intensity of that direct gaze curled my toes. Then he turned his attention back to ensuring our security.
Zach leaned forward to capture my hand on the table in one of his, brown eyes gleaming while the chandelier overhead brought out amber highlights in his hair. He shared a lot of features with his cousin, but on Zach they took on an urbane charm that made a fascinating juxtaposition to David’s harsher expression. It wasn’t just the few years between them that made the difference. Zach had grown up with money and security and it showed. David hadn’t known his heritage until adulthood. We had that in common.
The three of us had a lot in common, in fact. We were all Neuri, descendants of Slavic villagers with the ability to transform into wolves. We shared responsibility for our pack, me as the queen, Zach as the alpha, David as Zach’s second in command. And since I’d managed to bond to both of them when I transformed for the first time, we shared a bed and a three-way relationship we tried very hard to balance.
Some days it felt like juggling eggs. At least, it did to me. If I made a mistake, something might crack and be irreparably damaged. And it wasn’t just the two of them I was trying not fail. There was the rest of the pack. There was the unborn baby I carried, still too small for the changes going on inside me to be visible, but another reminder that if I screwed up, it wouldn’t just be myself I’d be letting down.
Only a couple of months ago I’d been a college grad with a crappy retail job whose biggest worry in life was launching my real career. It seemed like a lifetime since I’d been that person. That girl who’d grown up thinking she was human and now struggled daily to be more, to be stronger, smarter. To not fail.
“The wine at this restaurant does not come in jugs, Chandra,” Zach said, a teasing note in his voice. “And I think we can do better than a loaf of bread.”
“I’ll say.” I shook my head. “I’ve heard poetry readings that didn’t have the expression or description our waiter gave the dinner specials.”
“The food here is poetry,” Zach assured me.
“I wouldn’t know.” I glanced back at my menu, still deliberating my choices. “I had more of a MacDonald’s budget before I met you guys.”
“If you’d really rather have a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, say the word.” Zach’s voice sounded solemn but humor quirked up the corner of his mouth and made his eyes dance.
“Nope.” I ran my finger down the menu and stopped at the steak and lobster combination entrée. “It’s amazingly easy to get used to living in a mansion and being driven to dinner in a limo before heading to a concert at Wolf Trap.” Excitement over the concert had me nearly bouncing in my seat. It was another one of those things that hadn’t been in my previous budget. Zach, naturally, was a season ticket holder.
“Finding out you’re a target for crazy shape-shifters and living under guard has to come with some perks,” David contributed to the conversation abruptly. While his face seemed expressionless, I knew him well enough now to recognize the vulnerability that hid.
“I have some world-class perks.” I reached out with my free hand to grip David’s, so that the three of us formed a circle, energy flowing from and through our joined hands. Shape-shifter energy, pack and familiar, part of me, tinged with something more; the bond of mates. It buzzed up my spine like an electric current and curled through me with sensual warmth. I smiled at David, awareness of the connection between us leaping like sparks I almost expected to see form in the air. He didn’t quite smile back, but I felt the tension in him shift to something primal.
Then the waiter returned and the moment broke as we busied our hands with menus and gave our orders.
I took in our surroundings after the waiter bustled off, more to buy myself a minute than out of appreciation for the décor. This was the first real date we’d been on, and it felt a little surreal. We’d gone from strangers to mates in a matter of days. It seemed very backwards to date after the fact.
“Did you want to dance?” Zach indicated the direction I’d been looking with a tilt of his head, and I realized I was watching couples glide around the dance floor.
“Not really. You’re both better dancers than I am.”
“If you change your mind…” Zach’s voice trailed off suggestively.
“Thank you. But no. I’m waiting for the appetizers.” I leaned forward and whispered, “Crab-stuffed mushroom caps. Bacon-wrapped scallops.”
“You make it sound pornographic.” David’s mouth slanted in a half smile.
I grinned back. “I’m hungry. Also, given that the bar had vegetables carved into flower shapes on the cheese and cracker plates, I can’t wait to see what the real food looks like.”
“Not half as good as you.” Zach caught my hand again and carried it to his lips for a kiss I felt go straight to my center.
The compliment warmed me as much as the contact. I knew I looked good, my short auburn hair slicked back with the help of some gel, eye shadow and mascara applied along with a dash of lip gloss, and a little black dress with a halter top that made the most of what cleavage I had. But the elegant surroundings made me feel like I’d forgotten to comb or zip something.
The appetizers arrived, and I waved a hand at the beautiful presentation. “See, radish roses. And the kale underneath makes it look like a tiny garden.”
“Very pretty.” Zach selected a mushroom cap and fed it to me.
I swooned over the taste. Then I swooned over the contact buzz as his fingertip traced the curve of my lower lip.
“How much time between dinner and the concert?” I asked after I swallowed.
“Enough.” Zach’s eyes glinted. “The divider between the driver’s seat and the rear of the limo isn’t just soundproof. Nobody can see anything we might do during the drive.”
I felt a surge of heat, imagining the possibilities. Three people, privacy, and enough time to do anything. Anything we pleased.
My barely formed daydream came to an abrupt end when David’s head snapped to the left and Zach followed suit. I half-turned in my seat to find out what both of them were looking at and saw Will, white-faced, hurrying toward us.
“Did the limo break down?” I asked. But I knew before he shook his head that whatever was wrong, it wasn’t anything small. Will had had far too much fun playing driver for us earlier to give up the role before the evening came to its planned end.
“Family emergency,” Will said, his voice tight. Tension came off him in palpable waves, stirring the fine hairs at the nape of my neck in alarm.
That meant pack trouble. “Medical?”
Will nodded.
“Did someone call Jack?” Jack was our healer, our shaman for lack of a better word.
Will’s lips compressed. I watched him swallow hard before he spoke, his eyes dark with worry. “It is Jack.”
***
Time seemed to dilate into eternity but in reality, bare minutes passed before Zach dealt with the bill and joined us in the limo. Will pulled away from the curb the second his door closed. I sat close to David, my side pressed to his for comfort and strength. Zach belted himself into a seat across from us so he faced the front. Unlike my brief trip to fantasy, the dividing glass between the driver’s seat and the passenger area was down, and Zach was all business. “Details,” he said to Will.
When Will didn’t answer immediately, I shifted towards the front and reached around to touch his shoulder. “Start with telling us how bad it is,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking as nightmare possibilities danced in my head. Better to focus on Jack as I knew him, whole and strong. The only other red-haired Neuri. The one who was trying to teach me to control the gift inherent in that mutation.
“Pretty bad,” Will admitted. “He’s coherent, but burning with fever, in horrible pain. He tries not to scream.”
Oh, god. I shut my eyes as if that could shut out the horror. A ball of ice formed in my stomach and spread crystalline strands throughout my body. “How?”
“We don’t know. He said he was investigating a strange scent trail and after he crossed it, he collapsed. He had to drag himself back home. It took hours.”
“What the hell could cause that?” Leather upholstery creaked as I swiveled to look from Zach to David.
“Depends,” David said. “Maybe some kind of disease that came on suddenly and he just happened to be following a trail when it happened.”
I struggled to think clearly. “I thought we were immune to everything.”
“Maybe it’s something we haven’t seen before.” David met Zach’s eyes. “Or maybe there’s something about the trail. In which case we need to find out what it is and if there’s a connection.”
“Carefully,” Zach agreed. “If it caused Jack’s condition, I don’t want anybody else exposed. Speaking of which, Will, did anybody touch Jack? Is anyone else affected?”
“Several of us did, me included. We had to help him into the house and into a tub of cool water to try to bring the fever down. If it’s something spread by contact, we should’ve seen symptoms in at least one of us.”
“Good.” Zach turned his attention to me. “I still don’t want you to touch him. Until we know more, we can’t take risks.” Zach’s eyes bored into mine as he added a mental alpha command to the words, bending me to his will. “I don’t even want you in the same room without wearing a mask and gloves. Don’t argue with me on this.”
“I’m not an idiot, and I hate when you do that.” I scowled at him, happy to channel my fear for Jack into anger at being pushed. “Unlike the rest of the pack, I don’t have to obey you.”
“No, but in this instance, I need you to.” He leaned forward and reached for my hands. “Please.”
The word still sounded like an order, although under the circumstances, it was probably the best he could do. I’d only had the pressure of pack responsibility for a few weeks. It’d been weighing on Zach for most of his life, and while he had an easy-going exterior, underneath he had an iron will and a deep well of alpha instincts. It didn’t pay to push any of us on a matter of instinct.
“I’m not an idiot,” I repeated. But I squeezed his hands back. “I won’t take unnecessary risks. And you could have just asked.”
“Sometimes I can’t ask.” The wolf was in his eyes, power, instinct and need.
“No,” I agreed. “That’s what makes you alpha.”
My acknowledgement soothed the wolf within him, and Zach relaxed.
When he spoke again, his tone was even and controlled. “David will want to backtrack to find that scent trail, but not until we know more. I’ll assess Jack’s condition and go through our records; there might be something in there that’ll help.”
“And me?” I felt my hackles rise at being left out. My own wolf needed an outlet, action.
“You have the job nobody else can do.” Zach gave me a half smile. “Go talk to a blade of grass.”
2
I didn’t go into the sprawling house we all shared. I didn’t think I could see Jack torn apart by pain and keep my distance, and I agreed with Zach; it was better for me to play it safe until we knew more. Female Neuri are rare. I’d originally likened it to color-blindness, a sex-linked genetic trait that usually favored males. I was the only one in our generation, and if the pack lost me, along with the child I carried, it meant the end of us. It would be irresponsible to risk exposure.
So I did the only thing I could do for my friend; I went to talk to a blade of grass. Or more specifically, the Leshii, lord of the forest and friend of wolves, who took whatever form amused him most. He’d talk to me, and he’d helped me more than once. None of the others had ever seen him, although he was part of our history and they all knew of him. The Leshii knew everything that went on in his woods, along with a lot of other things. I’d learn more from him in five minutes than I would in five hours of clue chasing.
I wandered around the estate grounds, not seeing the gardens, not seeing anything, really. I didn’t realize I was half-blinded by tears until I walked straight into him. He caught me as I stumbled.
“Throwing yourself at me again.” The Leshii was in a favorite outfit, worn L.L. Bean flannel shirt and jeans. In earlier times, he was usually mistaken for a woodsman. He just kept the look up to date from century to century.
“Can’t help it,” I said, but the tears choking my voice ruined the attempt at lightness.
“I’ve always been irresistible.” He looked pleased with himself, his impossibly green eyes gleaming. Then he turned serious. “You have trouble.”
“I know. I just don’t know what kind. What’s wrong with Jack?”
“Poison.”
Okay, that helped. Sort of. “From what?”
“Hydra.”
“A hydra, as in Greek mythology?” I wiped my eyes with the back of one hand and tilted my head to start up at him. “Didn’t one of them guard the way to the Underworld, or something?”
“Something like that,” he agreed. “They are water beasts. This one must’ve come up the river from the sea. Then my curious wolf found the trail and crossed it. A hydra’s tracks are poison.”
That explained what, although it left an awful lot unexplained. Such as who and why. And the how frankly boggled my mind. “Wouldn’t somebody have noticed a chthonic monster swimming up the Potomac River from Chesapeake Bay? Especially if it’s that poisonous?”
The Leshii shrugged. “Humans saw dead fish washed ashore. Dead birds falling from the sky. They blamed it on everything from pesticides to global warming.”
“Right.” Well, at least there wasn’t a statewide monster hunt in progress. Always look on the bright side. I still felt ignorant and helpless. “What do we do? I can’t heal with a touch. That’s Jack’s gift. Is there an antidote?”
“In a way. You’ll need a bezoar stone.”
I shook my head to clear it in case I wasn’t hearing right. “A mad stone? The kind supposed to cure rabies?”
“Ah, you’ve heard of them.” He grinned, delighted with me.
“Even better,” I said slowly. “I think I know where to find one.”
“Not just any stone will do,” he cautioned me. “The stones gain power from use. You’ll need one with a history, not a new stone. And to keep their power, they can’t be bought or stolen. It must be freely given.”
“What about the hydra? We can’t just let it wander around spreading poison.”
“I’ll see to that.”
The Leshii vanished, leaving me to make my way back to the house.
***
David met me in the entry, a tiled sunroom that brought the outdoors inside.
“Jack’s been poisoned,” I said before he could ask. “By a hydra, of all things. The Leshii’s gone to get rid of it while we take care of Jack. I think I know where to get an antidote, or at least where to find out where to get one.”
“Good.” David wrapped his arms around me and drew me close. The physical connection grounded me and I leaned into him for a minute.
“What I don’t know is if this happened by accident, or on purpose,” I said into his shirt.
“Think the werepanthers broke the truce?”
I shook my head. “If they were going to break the truce, they wouldn’t have poisoned Jack. They need him as much as we do.” Jack was the reason I’d won a truce in the first place. I’d agreed to share his healing abilities. Which led me to an awful possibility. “Maybe somebody wanted to break the truce between us and the cats, though. Who’d benefit from that?”
David was still while he considered the question. Finally he answered, “The renegade wolves are leaderless and scattered. They couldn’t have regrouped this fast. No other local shifters.”
Which left those not local. And capable of summoning a hydra. “Well, that’s something.”
“You said you knew where to get the antidote,” David prompted.
“Uh-huh. We need a very special rock. My dad’s first partner is a rock hound. If he doesn’t have one, he’ll know who does.”
“A rock.” David’s doubtful tone made me tip my head back so I could meet his eyes.
“Not just any rock, a mad stone. They’re supposed to have magical abilities to draw out poison. According to the Leshii, it’s not a myth.”
“How long?”
“Before the poison kills Jack? The Greek myths that mention hydra poisoning describe a horrible, agonizing death but not an instant one.” In fact, one sufferer had jumped into a fire and burned to death to escape the pain, but I thought it better not to mention that. “I’d guess we have at least twenty-four hours. The faster we move, the better, though.” Especially since too much time had already passed since Jack’s initial infection.
Still, I didn’t make any effort to move away. David’s hold on me tightened in a comforting squeeze. “You okay?”
“Not really.” My voice wavered and I swallowed hard, trying to get a grip. Falling apart now wouldn’t help Jack. “It’s just, well. My adopted dad is the best, but my real dad died when I was a baby and I never knew him. I wanted my baby to know his or her father.”
The awful hole that had left in my young life loomed large, threatening to swallow the future I’d carved out in this strange non-nuclear family.
“Jack isn’t going to die,” David assured me, his voice rough. “We’ll find your rock and he’ll be fine.”
“Right.” I willed it to be true.
David stepped back, letting his arms fall away from me. “Let’s get started.”
***
I started with a phone call. My adoptive dad spent his working life protecting and serving, and his first partner had retired while I was in high school. Gus was like an honorary uncle to me. His rock collection had provided me with hours of entertainment as a kid, and retirement just meant he had more time for his hobby. If Gus didn’t have a bezoar stone, he’d know who did. He didn’t pick up, so I left a message and then went to search the Internet for information on local rock and curiosity collectors. Anything for a lead. Anything to keep moving forward.
When my cell phone rang twenty minutes later, I had a list of names to follow up in case Gus couldn’t help. Still, I realized how badly I was counting on him having the answer by the way my hands shook as I pressed the button to take his call.
I took a slow breath to steady my voice before I spoke. “Hi, Gus, thanks for calling me back.”
“Anything for you, Red,” came his cheerful reply. “You said you were looking for a rock specimen?”
“Yes, a bezoar stone. Do you have one, or know somebody who does?”
“That’s an odd request to make on a Friday night, Red.”
And the last thing I wanted to do was make Gus curious. “I know, but my fiancé is into local folklore and legends and it’s just the kind of thing I know he’d love.”
“Ah. Wedding present. I imagine Zach’s tough to shop for.”
“Right.” I smiled brightly at the phone, even though he wasn’t there to be fooled. I’d spent enough time around police work to know that a trained investigator really could hear the difference in tone when a person smiled. Or when they had something to hide. “I’m especially looking for curiosity factor, so preferably one with local history attached.”
“Hmm. I don’t have anything like that, but there is one person…” his voice trailed off.
“Yes?” I prompted.
“She collects that sort of thing, but she’s also trouble. I’m not sure you want to have anything to do with her,” Gus said slowly. “Supposed to be some sort of local witch. Big on crystals and magic rocks. You know bezoar stones are also called mad stones? Supposed to heal poison?”
“I did hear something like that,” I said, trying not to sound crazed. “The folklore angle is perfect for my purposes.” And if a witch had one, it was probably one with a history and enough power to do what we needed. Of course, she might just be a New Age wannabe.