Laurell Hamilton - Never After

I backed up against the wall, counting the seconds. Where were they? Where were Delilah and Camille and Smoky? They promised they’d be here!

Whimpering now as fear set in, I backed up against a cart full of meds. I glanced down and saw two syringes there—fully loaded with… whatever was in them. It looked like the night nurse had just left the cart sitting in the hall as she was making her rounds.

I slipped in front of the cart and slid my hands behind me, grabbing one of the syringes. It could have anything from vitamins to sleeping meds in it. The former would be only of shock value when I hit him with the needle. The latter might actually do some good.

I sidestepped my way to the wall beside the cart, and backed up against it, hiding the syringe behind me. “Terrance. Please rethink this. Don’t do this—it’s been a hundred years. For all you know, my mother’s people might have died out. Why bother? We live in a different age. Hell, if you want to rule so badly, head over to Otherworld. The world’s a lot harsher there, and a lot more welcoming to our kind.”

He arched one eyebrow. “If I wanted to go to Otherworld, I would. And your mother’s people are alive and thriving. Do you really think I’m that stupid? I have a network of informants scattered from here to Ireland. I’m a prince among my own people, remember? While it may not mean much to some selkies, the crown still counts for something with the Finfolk and the roane.”

I moaned gently as he lithely stepped in front of me. “Okay, bitch. It’s time to leave. Let’s go say good-bye to your boyfriend and then be on our way.”

As he reached for me, I panicked and brought the syringe around, stabbing hard and deep into his neck and pressing the plunger. He screamed and backhanded me, knocking me against the wall. Lon stared dumbly at me, then at his boss, obviously not knowing what to do.

At that moment, I heard a high-pitched warning cry and looked up to see Delilah, Camille, and Smoky hurtling down the hall. Smoky passed right by me and grabbed Terrance around the waist, squeezing with a mighty grunt. Terrance turned blue and fainted.

Lon wheeled around, intending to run, but I was feeling my oats now, and I stuck out my foot and tripped him. He went sprawling at Delilah’s feet, and she promptly gave him a kick so hard I could hear bones breaking. I shuddered as Camille took me by the hand and moved me to the side.

Smoky looked around. Still no one in sight. He frowned, then turned back to me. “What do you want me to do with him?”

I stared at the dragon. He was offering me what I wanted. What I needed. But could I ask someone else to kill for me?>

If I let Terrance live, there was a chance the Pod would vote to let him go. There were still plenty of members there—mainly female—who resented the fact that my infertility problem had been cured and that Mitch was off the market now. Some selkies mated with whomever they wanted, but Mitch and I… he was my one and only. And I was his. I sucked in a deep breath, not knowing what to say.

As I knelt beside his prone form, trying to build up my nerve to do the job myself, he suddenly went into convulsions. I jumped back, not sure what was going on, and we watched as Terrance spasmed again, then fell silent.

Camille felt for a pulse. “He’s dead,” she said, standing up. She picked up the needle that I’d stabbed him with. “What’s this?”

“I don’t know—I was using it to try to buy time so I could get away. What does it say on the cart? It was in that tray right there.” I pointed to the tray.

She glanced at the label on the tray, then looked at me. “Insulin—meant for a Juanita Chalker. And a hefty dose, at that. Must have thrown him into a hypoglycemic shock and killed him.”

I stared at Terrance’s body. He was dead. I’d killed him. I glanced at Lon, who was staring at me, pale and wan.

“Call Chase,” I said. “I guess there’s no harm in telling him what happened now. Turn Lon over to him. Meanwhile, where are the nurses that work this floor?”

Lon groaned from the floor. “They’re locked up in the cleaning closet. Terrance and I forced them in there. He didn’t want any interference and figured we’d be long gone by the time they broke out.”

Smoky reached down and lifted Lon by his collar, letting the man dangle with his feet a good ten inches above the ground.

“You not only endangered the two selkies, but also the lives of every patient on this floor. I should just crisp you and eat you right here, but I think I’ll let the humans have their way with you. But mind you this—if you’re ever set free, and you ever come near this selkie and her mate again, I’ll find you and use your bones as toothpicks. Understand, little man ?”

Lon nodded, his eyes wide, and I felt a rush of warmth in my heart for Camille’s big lug of a husband.

The sun was setting over the water as Mitch, in his wheelchair, and I stood at the edge of a grassy area just beyond the Daybreak Star Indian Culture Center in Discovery Park, staring out over the Shilshole Bay. Camille and Delilah were a little ways away, sitting on the grass. We were all bundled up. It wasn’t cold, but a chill definitely hung low in the air.

Mitch reached up with his uninjured arm to take my hand. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. We still didn’t know what would happen when he tried to shift—the pins in his other arm were there for good and the elders of the Pod couldn’t give us an answer, either.

Luckily, marine Weres—unlike most other Weres—weren’t affected by the full moon. Why, we didn’t know, but we shifted when we wanted. Perhaps it was because the ocean was already aligned to the moon, with its effect on the ebb and flow of the tides. Or maybe we weren’t truly Weres, but some other type of shifter… But the upshot was, Mitch wouldn’t have to transform until he felt ready. I could feel his longing, though, to bathe himself in the Ocean Mother’s waters.

Camille brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked over at us. “So is everything okay?”

Mitch and I glanced at each other; then Mitch nodded. “Yeah… I understand why Siobhan kept her past a secret.”

“I wanted to forget the past,” I said. “I almost had myself convinced that all my lies were real, that what happened with Terrance had been a nightmare. But I guess you can never run away from your problems. Sometimes you have to face them head-on and defeat the demons that reach out of the dark to grab hold of you.”

“What happened to Terrance’s cronies?” Delilah stood up and sucked in a deep lungful of air, keeping a wary eye on the water. Even though the waves were a good distance from us, I could see her pull back. I wondered what it would be like to be so afraid of the water. For me, the ocean was an embracing mother, a refuge and sanctuary.

“Chase wrote it up as self-defense, and the Pod’s indicted Lon for attempted murder and kidnapping. They also caught the other one—Keith—and both of them are going before the Tribunal. I doubt they’ll make it out alive.”

“Good riddance,” Camille said. After a moment, she turned a dazzling smile our way. “So, did I hear talk of a trip to Scotland?”

“In a bit.” I tried to repress a smile, but it broke through anyway. “But first, we’re going to Ramsey, on the Isle of Man, where my mother will meet us. Her people still live there, and so I’ll be able to meet my relatives on her side. This is the first time I’ve spoken to her in over a hundred years. She thought I was dead all this time.”

Mitch laughed. “I still can’t believe I actually married a princess.”

“I’m not a princess, you doofus.” I grinned.