Fires Of Solstice Part 34

His eyebrows rose and he took a step forward.

Shadow growled.

He stopped but said, "Not like what? Murder is murder. Did he kill that guy in the park or not?"

Again she shook her head. "You have to understand, there's a compulsion. Usually he can control it, but he'd taken a new kind of medicine. And the people who died were all bad! He's not really a murderer."

Shock and outrage colored Jon's features. "Not a murderer! What would you call him?"

"He was protecting the girl, d.a.m.n it," she snapped. Then she took a deep breath and grabbed hold of her temper. "Jon, he's a good man who's done good things. I won't ruin his life because he accidentally killed a jerk who was beating a girl."

"Accidentally killed? What's wrong with... " He stopped and stared at her intently. A look of comprehension appeared, the anger drained from his face and his shoulders drooped. In a hollow voice, he said, "You've fallen in love with him, haven't you?"

Meredythe froze. Love! Bleddyn? Sure he was s.e.xy and great in bed. But love? She didn't love Bleddyn, did she? "I... " She swallowed.

He held up his hand. "Don't say anything else. It's perfectly obvious. I'm not dense."

"Jon...""I guess I'd better get going. I'll see you." Turning, he walked toward the door.Clasping the pillow tighter, she blurted, "Jon, do you have any more evidence?"He froze. His laughter was bitter. "I should probably leave you hanging, but I won't.

No, everything I had was in that briefcase. Pretty stupid of me, wasn't it?" He grabbed the doork.n.o.b then looked back over his shoulder. "Tell me, was that guy who stole it really a vampire or was he just dressed to scare me?"

Meredythe swallowed. How was she supposed to answer that question?

His lips quirked into a sardonic smile. "Never mind. If you found a werewolf, I guess there can be vampires too."

Meredythe stared at the closed door then sighed. She'd think about everything in the morning. Dropping the pillow, she heaved herself to her feet. "Come on, Shadow. Let's get some sleep."

Meredythe pushed the scrambled eggs room service had delivered around on the plate. Setting the fork down, she picked up a m.u.f.fin and broke off a little piece and nibbled. Sighing, she continued to break off pieces of m.u.f.fin and drop them to her plate. She'd gotten little sleep last night, tossing and turning as the truth of Jon's words kept rolling around her mind. She loved Bleddyn. Now what was she going to do?

Shadow lifted his head from his breakfast. Someone comes.

Seconds later, there was a knock on the door. Pushing herself out of her chair, she stumbled to the door and looked out the peephole. With a sob, she jerked the door open.

"Aunt Evie," she cried as she launched herself into the older woman's arms, "how could you do this to me?"

Evelyn hugged her niece close. "There, there, Meredythe. Everything will be fine." Grasping Meredythe's upper arms, Evelyn disengaged herself and stepped back. "Perhaps it would be better if we went into your room instead of providing entertainment for whoever comes into the hallway?"

The slight trace of amus.e.m.e.nt in Evelyn's voice brought a weak smile to Meredythe' s face and she stepped back into the room. Evelyn followed and closed the door.

Looking about the room, she spied the wolf-dog.

"So you're Shadow. How do you do?"

He sat back on his haunches and licked his jowls.

After shrugging out of her coat and dropping it over the back of a chair, she bustled across the room and poured herself a cup of coffee. Settling herself in a comfortable chair, she looked expectantly at her niece.

Meredythe followed her aunt and dropped onto the sofa, slumping against the cushions. "I'm in love with Bleddyn Glyndwr," she mumbled.

Evelyn sipped her coffee. "Is that such a bad thing?"

Blinking, Meredythe sniffed and fingered a tear from her cheek. "Of course it's a bad thing. He's a werewolf."

Evelyn c.o.c.ked her head to the side. "And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"

"d.a.m.n it, Aunt Evie," Meredythe snapped as she shoved herself up and began to pace. "He's not completely human. He's not normal. He kills people."

"Only if he doesn't have any other choice. He's not a bad man, Meredythe. Rather he 's a very good man suffering from a rare disease, you might say. Is it fair to hold that against him?"

Meredythe stopped pacing and stared at her aunt. "How can you defend him?"

Evelyn set her cup down, rose and clasped her niece's hands tightly. "Meredythe, I know Bleddyn almost as well as I know you. He's always been a kind, compa.s.sionate man who hates what happens to him. He's been searching for a cure for hundreds of years. Nothing has ever worked."

Tugging her hands free, Meredythe fisted them on her hips. "So he relied on my virgin blood. Well, I have news for you, Aunt Evie-I wasn't a virgin."

Smiling, Evelyn sat back down and continued to sip her coffee. "I was pretty sure you weren't. However, since you never mentioned having s.e.x with anyone, I decided not to pursue the subject."

"But," Meredythe swallowed, "if you thought I wasn't a virgin, why didn't you..."

"Tell Rhys or Bleddyn?" Evelyn finished. "I didn't tell them because your life before you met Bleddyn is your business, not theirs. Besides, I don't believe your virginity is important. I think there's a different meaning to 'pure and untainted'."

"What?"

Evelyn smiled and shrugged. "I'm afraid I haven't figured that out yet." Setting her now-empty cup on the table, she continued, "What are you going to do now?"

Biting her lip, Meredythe spun away from her aunt and paced across the room. When she reached the window, she turned and paced back. "I don't know. I don't want to love Bleddyn. All it does is complicate my life. The fact that he's a werewolf aside, I have a good job with a great future. Why should I give that up for him?"

Her aunt c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. "Who said you have to?"

"Aunt Evie, he's a werewolf."

"Again, what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"

"You aren't any help." Spinning away, Meredythe strode to the fireplace then turned. "Tanau," she said and fire blossomed from her fingertips. She glared at her aunt. "Did you know I could do this?"

"No," Evelyn said with a warm smile, "but I'm not surprised."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "Spending as much time in fire as you have was bound to have an effect."

Meredythe smothered the flames and crossed her arms over her chest. "Then how come I can burn my hand on a hot pan?"

"That's just heat, not fire."

Throwing her hands into the air, Meredythe stomped back across the room and flung herself onto the sofa. "Is there anything you don't know?"

Evelyn laughed. "Of course, dear, many things." Then, leaning forward, she continued, "Meredythe, the only logical thing to do right now is talk to Bleddyn. You two have to sort things out, and you can't do that if you're here in New York and he's in Winterbourne."

"I wanted to talk to him, Aunt Evie, but then I heard Rhys and him talking about Jon having DNA proving Bleddyn was a werewolf and I had to come and find out what Jon knew."

Evelyn smiled. "And why was that?"

Sighing, Meredythe grimaced and muttered, "Because I care about what happens to him."

Evelyn leaned back. "That should explain things far more clearly than I can. Trust your feelings, Meredythe. They've never been wrong before."

Meredythe raked her fingers through her hair and rose. She smiled and said, "You're right as usual. Let me take a shower and put on some clean clothes. I did manage to find some that weren't ripped." She c.o.c.ked her head to the side. "Do you have any idea who trashed my apartment?"

Evelyn frowned. "I would imagine it was Slade."

"Slade?"

Her frown deepened. "Didn't Bleddyn or Rhys warn you about him?"

"No."

"Men! It's a wonder the world still exists at all." Rising, she grasped Meredythe's hands again. "Slade is another shapeshifter and an enemy of Bleddyn's. He wants you for himself because he believes your blood will make him invincible."

Meredythe swallowed. "How much of my blood?"

"All of it, I imagine." Evelyn continued in an irritated tone, "I can't believe they didn 't warn you."

"I didn't exactly give them a chance. I left pretty abruptly. I don't even have my purse with me."

Evelyn snorted. "You were there how long? Plenty of time to warn you." She dropped Meredythe's hands. "Well, no use dwelling on it now. Go get cleaned up. Then you and I will return to Bleddyn's estate together. You'll be safe from Slade there."

When Meredythe didn't move, Evelyn shooed her toward the bathroom. "Go on. The sooner we get everything settled, the sooner I can calm Methuselah. He's not very happy with you right now, you know."

Chuckling, Meredythe headed for the shower. Methuselah was undoubtedly expressing his displeasure by leaving mouse bodies all over Bleddyn's house.

After Evelyn heard water running, she turned to Shadow. "We shouldn't have any problems getting to the estate, but if we do..."

The wolf-dog grinned a toothy grin. I will protect her with my life.

Late that afternoon, Evelyn shifted in her seat and sighed. "I'm glad we're finally here. I hate long car rides."

In the backseat, Shadow whined in agreement.

Meredythe grinned. "You're the one who insisted on detouring to your house."

"I needed an overnight bag."

"You didn't have to agree to a late lunch."

"I couldn't hurt Mary Francis' feelings, Meredythe. Staying for lunch didn't delay us that long."

Meredythe glanced in the rearview mirror. "No, but we'd have gotten here before dark if we hadn't stayed."

Evelyn shifted again. "I'll still be glad when we get there. I shouldn't have had that second cup of tea."

"I offered to stop, but you insisted on driving straight through," Meredythe said with another grin. "Don't worry, the driveway is right around here somewhere."

A relieved expression appeared on Evelyn's face. "Thank goodness."

"Here it is. A few more turns and we'll be there. Don't mind the gargoyles," Meredythe added with a grin.

Rounding the first turn into Bleddyn's long driveway, Meredythe glanced over at her aunt then back to the road. Gasping, she slammed on the brakes. Even so, the car plowed into the tree that lay across the drive.

As the car shuddered to an abrupt halt, both airbags deployed. Evelyn screamed and Shadow yelped as he was thrown against the back of the front seat. A tire exploded.

Punching and shoving the airbag out of her way, Meredythe reached for her aunt. "Aunt Evie, are you okay?"

A moan answered her.

"Shadow?"

I'm stuck back here, but I don't think I'm hurt anywhere.

Releasing her seat belt, she said, "I'm going to get out and go around to Aunt Evie's side."

She pulled the door handle. Nothing. "Come on, d.a.m.n it." She pulled the handle again and shoved her shoulder against the door. Groaning, it opened about three inches. Thrusting with both hands, she managed to shove it open wide enough to squeeze out.

Once out, she hurried around to pa.s.senger side. Grabbing the door, she wrenched it open. "Aunt Evie, are you okay?"

To her left, a large ma.s.s emerged from the growing twilight. A triumphant growl and Shadow's frenzied howling were all she heard before something clipped the side of her head and she lost consciousness.

Jon Bowers closed his eyes and pinched the top of his nose. Why he'd come to the lab last night instead of going home, he wasn't sure. But he wanted to check out the blood sample he'd gotten from Meredythe's apartment. If that blood did come from the werewolf, maybe he'd be able to convince her she was in danger.

Rolling his shoulders to relieve the stiffness, he returned to the information before him. Grabbing a magnifying gla.s.s, he examined it carefully. Frowning, he rubbed his eyes then looked again. This DNA wasn't exactly the same as the other werewolf sample he'd examined. Something was different.

Giving his wheeled chair a push, he rolled over to his computer. Tapping a few keys, he waited for the information to pop up. When it did, he froze and stared. Impossible.

The chair spun away and bounced off a table as he leaped to his feet. Lurching to his desk, he grabbed the phone and punched in the number for Meredythe's hotel.

"Meredythe Welsh, please. Suite 1406."

Drumming his fingers, he waited.

"What do you mean she checked out? When? This morning?" He looked at his watch. Five o'clock. "f.u.c.k!"

Dropping the phone, he shoved the papers and folders on his desk out of his way. "d.a.m.n it, where did I put that phone number?" Looking around his small office, he spotted the wastepaper can. Grabbing it, he upended it, dumped everything on the floor and started rummaging through the trash.