Shifters Rule (Rule Series) Read online

  The bottle nearly slipped from Cowboy’s clumsy fingers. Jack saw an opportunity and took it. He grabbed the bottle and sniffed the contents even as Cowboy tried in vain to get it back. There wasn’t a drop of alcohol in the liquid. Jack shook his head slowly. “Root beer?”

  Cowboy stood up straight, dropping the drunk act. He sneered. “Did you think I would drink myself to death over you? Wow, you are full of yourself. What an egotist.”

  “Why pretend to be drunk?”

  “I wanted you off guard so you might give me the truth.”

  “Truth about what?”

  Cowboy grinned. “I wanted to hear you say it, that you miss being a vampire and you miss me.”

  The front door opened. Both guys turned in the direction of the sound as Silver stepped onto the porch. Concern drew her brows together. She quickly crossed the yard to stand next to Jack. Her hand reached for his. “What is he doing here?”

  Cowboy answered her before Jack could. “Just touching base with an old buddy.”

  She turned blazing eyes on their visitor. Folding her arms over her chest, she asked, “Did you break up with Trina?”

  “I did. Thank you for asking.”

  “Did you break her heart?”

  Cowboy squinted at her and his grin widened. “I might have dented it a bit, but I doubt it’s actually broken.”

  Silver lifted her worried eyes to Jack’s face. “I should go see her and make sure she’s okay. Do you want to come with me?”

  “No. You should probably have some alone time with her. If I go running over there with you, she’ll make the connection and know we got to Cowboy. Then she’ll want him back.”

  Silver nodded. She raced back inside the house. He hoped she wasn’t going to tell Ian about their visitor. Jack wasn’t in the mood for a huge fight to the death. Since Cowboy had come to see him, he felt like he’d have to defend the guy.

  Jack could smell the sun now. It lightly burned the inside of his nostrils. For the second time he motioned to the sky. “You really need to go before it’s too late.”

  Cowboy shifted from one foot to the other. “I came here tonight to tell you I want to help you take the werewolf down. I’m serious. I kept my side of the deal and dumped Trina. Now I want to know if you’re going to keep to your end of the deal. Are you going to team up with me one more time to take down the big, bad wolf?”

  Jack took a deep breath and considered the question. He didn’t trust Cowboy anymore, not completely. It was obvious the vampire had his own agenda. But he could use the assistance. “I’d appreciate your help.”

  Jack offered his hand, and Cowboy gripped it hard. They shook on it, sealing the deal. In a flash Cowboy was gone. He didn’t bother to say goodbye or make plans to meet up later. Using vampire-speed, Cowboy took off like a streak of lightning. Jack still had his hand out. He lowered it, feeling a bit shaken by Cowboy’s quick departure. Now what?

  Could Cowboy be working with Jersey Clifford?

  Only time would give him the answer.

  .

  *****

  .

  Ten minutes later, Jack entered his bedroom to find Silver holding the diary. It was open in her trembling hands. It was obvious she’d been reading, also obvious what she’d read had upset her. Dressed up to visit Trina, she had a pretty blouse and long skirt on. Her hair was pinned back. It fell in long waves thanks to time spent with her curling iron. She looked so mature, a woman ready to take on the world. Her beauty blew him away. It took him a moment to realize she was crying.

  The diary slipped from her fingers and hit the floor. Tears flowed down her cheeks. He went to her, tried to put his arms around her, but she shoved him away. Her voice shook as she said, “I have to go see Trina. Now.”

  “You’re too upset to go anywhere. Tell me what’s wrong. Is there a new page in the stupid book?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it!” Silver ran from the room, slamming the door shut behind her to dissuade him from following.

  Jack started after her. The abandoned diary caught his eye. She wasn’t going to tell him anything. He picked the book off the floor. Silver had read it a hundred times. If something inside it upset her, it had to be new information. It wouldn’t be the first time a new page had surfaced. He flipped the pages until he found one he hadn’t read before. A scrawled note with his name beckoned.

  Jack and Silver want to marry, but it won’t happen until the werewolves are gone. If they try to marry before the head werewolf is dead, one of them will die instead.

  No wonder she’d freaked out. Considering his recent proposal, this was the worst time to find a passage about one of them dying before they could get married. He would just have to remind her later that Lovely was not right about everything. Even when the diary was right, there were parts that were wrong. He remembered how it had warned him against Silver.

  Burning rage surfaced. He ripped the offensive page out and wadded it up in one hand. He was sick of the diary screwing with his life. On a whim he took it downstairs to the living room. After starting a fire in the hearth, he tossed the crumpled page into the flames. It burned in seconds. Sweet satisfaction brought a half-smile to his lips.

  He hated the stupid diary. The thing did more harm than good. Without thinking about it, he threw the diary, aiming for the wall. It accidentally landed in the flames. A harsh gasp parted his lips. Silver and Vanessa were going to kill him.

  Blue sparks flew out of the hearth. An enormous amount of smoke gathered as if the chimney was clogged. Jack ran to the window and opened it to release the smoke. Should he get the fire extinguisher? Call the fire department?

  Too late.

  A violent explosion knocked him off his feet, enveloped him in hot white light, and transported him to another place... another time.

  .

  *****

  Chapter Thirteen:

  A FAERIE’S LIFE

  .

  .

  At least he landed on soft grass. Jack lifted his head and found himself face to face with a small girl. She pushed a mop of curly red hair out of her eyes and leaned forward. He opened his mouth to speak to her. Before a single word tumbled off his tongue, he realized the girl wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at something over his shoulder.

  Jack sat up and looked around.

  Two young boys—one with dark hair and the other fair—fought an imaginary war in the grassy meadow. They each held a long stick, wielding it like a sword. The blond boy swung his stick wide, but the dark-haired kid jumped over it. Thick wood banged against wood instead of metal against metal. They were having such a great time they didn’t notice they were being watched by a little red-haired girl with the most amazing eyes... Silver’s eyes.

  Jack’s heart thundered in his chest.

  An audible narration began overhead as if he was in a movie. The feminine voice belonged to the owner of the diary, Lovely. No one had to tell him. He just knew. Somehow he had released her, a part of her, by burning the diary.

  “When I was small, I caught a terrible sickness. My father brought me here to your world to make me better. Something about this place energizes us, heals us.”

  The scene changed immediately. He saw a man place the little girl in a field of tall grass. A worn hat hid his face and a long, tan coat covered his body. The red-haired girl was in a floral print dress, no hat. Her pale face and feeble movements underlined the fact she was extremely ill. Her eyes only opened a slit as the man spoke to her. “I have something to take care of in the village, but I will be back in a flash. Stay here. Wait for me.”

  The overhead voice spoke again. “If I had listened to him, you would have remained human. There wouldn’t be a single monster on this planet.”

  They returned to the earlier scene. Jack watched the small girl watching the boys. A sweet smile curved her lips. She moved a part of the bush out of her way so she could keep them in sight. Neither of them noticed her.

  “I returned again and
again in secret. It is forbidden to cross over to this world without permission from our king, but I became obsessed with these boys. I couldn’t stay away. They touched something deep inside of my heart. Somehow I knew our lives were meant to be intertwined forever.”

  The scene dissolved.

  .

  *****

  .

  The two boys chased each other, playing an unusual version of tag. It was a different day, different game. They were a bit older. The blond boy chased the dark-haired boy. Then that boy turned and chased the fair one. Their laughter mingled. While running around a tree, the blond boy fell. He landed on the ground hard, his face close to the little red-haired girl. She’d been watching them again. Both of them gasped.

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  She leapt to her feet and ran, but the darker boy blocked her way. In seconds she was trapped between the two. Every time she tried to get around them, they moved to stop her. Frightened, she clung to a small stuffed rabbit. Wide eyes stared at the boys without blinking. She didn’t say a word.

  “What should we do with this trespasser?” the dark-haired boy asked.

  “Stop it, Alexander,” said the blond boy. “You’re scaring her.”

  “Nah. She’s brave, William. I can tell.” When she didn’t speak, he asked, “What’s your name?”

  In an oddly breathless voice William said, “She’s lovely.”

  The girl grinned from ear to ear. “Yes,” she said, nodding twice. “I am Lovely. That is my name.”

  Alexander chuckled. “That’s a weird name.”

  “I think it’s perfect,” William said.

  Alexander rolled his eyes. “Of course you do. Come on, Lovely. Play with us.”

  Overhead the disembodied voice continued to narrate. “My visits became more frequent after this. I had found two friends, best friends. The brothers invited me into their imaginary world and I loved it. Everything was good until our king asked me to do a horrible thing for my people.”

  Another scene change.

  .

  *****

  .

  The three of them were older now, almost full grown. Lovely sat on a stump, her long red hair cascading down half her body like rolling fire. Tears spilled from her eyes, and her shoulders shook with quiet sobs. William looked stunned. Alexander looked uncomfortable. He shifted from foot to foot while William handed her a square of white linen and tried to comfort her.

  “If you tell us what’s wrong, we can help you,” William said.

  Alexander nodded. “Has someone hurt you? Give me their name and I will beat them bloody.”

  Her damp eyes lifted. “Our king wants to give me to his son in marriage. It matters not to him that I don’t love the ugly toad. I have no choice. Either I marry him or I’m put to death. It’s the law.”

  Alexander puffed out his chest. “You can’t marry him because you’re going to marry me.”

  “You told me you never wanted to marry,” William said, cheeks flushed.

  “That’s cause I never thought I’d meet a girl pretty enough. Lovely has red hair like our ma, and I like it.”

  “Well, maybe she doesn’t want to marry you. Maybe she wants to marry me.”

  Alexander glared at his brother. “You only want to marry her cause I do.”

  “That’s not true.” William placed a gentle hand on Lovely’s shoulder. “If you marry me, I will take care of you forever.”

  “Don’t listen to him. You need a strong husband. Watch this.”

  Alexander quickly climbed a tree and hung upside-down on a branch. Swinging back and forth hard, his legs let go and he fell. Lovely shrieked. Alexander landed on his feet with a wide grin on his face. When she realized he had performed a perfect stunt, she clapped her hands. Her tears began to dry.

  William’s face reddened. Recapturing her attention, he said, “No. You need a husband that’s smart. I can read better than Alexander, and I know how to do arithmetic. I will get a good job in the city. You won’t have to take in laundry like our ma does.”

  “If the king sends people after you, I can protect you.” Alexander crossed arms over his chest. “William would just wet himself.”

  “Would not, you liar!”

  Alexander pushed William.

  William pushed back.

  It would have turned into a nasty fight, but Lovely interrupted them. With a loud voice she cried out in desperation. “I cannot marry either of you! The king will not allow it to happen. You do not understand his great power. Neither of you can save me from my fate. I marry his son or I die.”

  From above Lovely spoke to Jack.

  “I was saved from marrying the king’s son when they caught me crossing over to your world. The king banished me. That was the beginning of my new life and the end of yours.”

  .

  *****

  .

  Lovely stood in the meadow of tall grass, surrounded by the king’s men. They circled her. The men moved in until they could grab her. There wasn’t anything she could do. She struggled to no avail. They treated her roughly, not caring if they bruised the tender flesh of her arms. She was dragged forward and flung to the ground before the king, her eyes level with his knees.

  A stern looking man, the king scowled down at her. “Your obsession with this world was brought to my attention. I must say I am disappointed in you, selfish child. You are no longer welcome in our world. Since you love this place so much, stay in it.”

  “My heart soared,” the disembodied voice told Jack. “For a moment I believed my greatest wish was coming true. But I should have remembered the king’s cruelty.”

  The king said, “I have cut off some property for you and placed spells on it to keep others out. There, you will live forever. Alone.”

  “No. That is too much for me to bear. At least give me someone to be my companion.”

  His eyes narrowed into malicious slits. “You want companionship?” He waved his arms and pointed. “Look. The men bring your companions.”

  She turned to find a dog and a cat in the arms of two of the men. They brought them to her. The king laughed viciously. Again and again she begged him to simply kill her. He refused. “Won’t you at least give me a way out? In all of our history every time a curse was set, an escape was given.”

  The king rubbed his jaw and gave it thought. “Fine. The curse will end when you fall in love with your whole heart. You see, I know that you are torn between two human boys. Only true love can end the curse. You must love one and kill the other.”

  “But... how can I fall in love when I cannot see or speak to them?”

  “That is your problem.”

  The scene ended, but the voice continued on in his head.

  “He sentenced me to a little cottage and some land. Although I could see people on the other side of my bubble, they could not see me. There was a spell to keep people out. Every time a person came near my land they would simply change course. No one set so much as a foot on my land. For years I watched Alexander and William. They grew up before my eyes. Sometimes I screamed their names within a distance of a few feet and neither could hear me. I thought I was trapped forever. Then a plan came to me, a plan that saved my life and destroyed theirs.”

  .

  *****

  Chapter Fourteen:

  SCENES FROM THE PAST

  .

  .

  Lovely walked her land with a grown dog on her heels as Jack stood off to the side, watching. In the distance she saw Alexander and William. They had grown up, too. In their early twenties now, they were carrying packs as if they were going hiking. Lovely stopped to watch them. She didn’t bother to cry out to them. Barking, the dog darted forward. She called for it to stop, but the dog ignored her. As she watched in stunned silence, the dog ran to the boys.

  “Hey there,” William said. He bent over and patted the dog on the head.

  Lovely gasped.

  She raced forward, but when she reached the end
of her land, she hit the invisible wall. It knocked her backwards. She landed in a clumsy heap on the ground. The boys kept walking. They hadn’t heard a sound. In desperation she ran along the invisible fence and yelled their names. “William! Alexander! Can you hear me?”

  A minute later the dog returned to her side.

  “I had been rescued,” the voice from above said. “The king hadn’t taken my powers away, but I wasn’t able to use them to escape. I was always looking for a way to bring someone inside so I could at least have company. The dog could leave, probably the cat as well. So I used them to perform a spell. I melded their spirits with the boys and that made it possible for the boys to visit me in my home.

  “It was not my intention to create monsters. I thought if part of the cat and dog were melded with the boys, they could come onto my land freely. It worked. Because I could no longer sleep, I needed company at night and during the day. I melded the cat’s spirit into Alexander so that when the sun began to rise each morning, he would become sleepy. He had no choice but to go down to the cellar. Instead of cat naps, he slept for hours. Sunlight didn’t originally kill vampires. That happened over time.

  “I put the dog’s spirit into William. When the sun began to go down each night, he would get the irresistible urge to run free in the woods. It was perfect. William kept me company during the day while Alexander slept in the cellar. Alexander spent the nights with me while William hunted, slept under the stars, and howled at the moon. Part of me loved them both. We were together for years.”

  Although Jack wasn’t sure she could hear him, he asked, “What happened? If it was so perfect, why is Jersey crazy now? Why are we being reincarnated? Why?”

  No answer.

  The scene changed again and again until Jack had to close his eyes to fight a surge of dizziness.

  .

  *****

  .

  William (Jersey) sat in the parlor with Lovely. She knitted a sweater while he read a book to her. There was love shining in his eyes. He had been blind with love for her. Jack almost felt sorry for him. When her cup was empty, he hopped up to fill it with warm tea. His hand stroked the side of her face.