Cold fear began to knot Libby’s belly at the woman’s words. Blank pictures flashed behind her eyes, empty scenes that held no form but the feelings they aroused were devastating. It was bone chilling terror and she began to tremble, her eyes looking to the floor and away from the probing black ones that had narrowed suddenly.
“Are you scared, Libby?”
Ana knelt down in front of her, forcing Libby’s head up until her violet eyes were captured by the blackness of her own. “You should be,” she whispered, and Libby’s eyes widened. She felt the scream that was trapped at the back of her throat rush to the surface and burst from her in a loud wail.
Ana’s eyes had darkened even further, until there were no whites to them, and she growled loudly as her mouth flashed a set of very long, very sharp fangs at Libby.
“Enough! Ana, leave at once.”
Libby’s eyes flew up and she felt immediate relief at the sight of the tall dark stranger who stood in the doorway. She jumped past Ana and flew into his arms, ignoring all the aches of her protesting limbs and the need for escape.
Her one and only thought was to get to him. For some reason, she knew he would not let harm come to her.
She buried her face into the hardness of his chest, and her limbs were shaking uncontrollably as she closed her eyes, trying to blot out the image of Ana’s fangs. What the hell was she? And who were these people?
“Please, I don’t know anything. I can’t remember anything. Can’t you let me go?”
Strength and warmth seeped from his pores into her body, and he hesitated before loosely encompassing her into the circle of his arms. He spoke then, and the rumble of his voice vibrated his chest against her cheeks. He smelled of the earth and of comfort. He held an undeniable male scent that even amidst all the turmoil awakened something inside her.
Libby felt heat begin to finger outward, caressing her breasts and winding down to her tummy. She was aware of every hard plane of his chest and abs, and in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to lose herself in the sensations. To just close her eyes and to pretend she was somewhere else.
With him.
“You need to leave now, Ana.”
Libby expected the woman to argue, but she walked past them, her voice insolent. “I was just welcoming your little pet back to the fold, Jaxon. I told her we were going to help her get her memory back.” Ana paused, her voice turning harsh as she left the room. “I’ve been waiting three long years to hear why she betrayed us all and murdered my lover.”
Libby’s eyes widened in disbelief at the absurd accusations the woman had spat at her. She felt her blood begin to burn and she whispered hoarsely, “Liar.”
Ana’s eyebrows arched in perfect sync but she remained silent.
A third voice joined the discussion, and Libby’s eyes opened up to a tall, handsome man wiping sleep from features that seemed as if carved from stone.
“So nice to see the whole gang back together again.”
Libby felt the stranger—Jaxon’s—arms tense as they tightened around her.
“Declan, she’s had enough this morning.”
“Christ, Jax, I know that. I was going to make some breakfast and thought we could all sit down together and eat our eggs and bacon like normal people. Well, as normal as a human, which would be you,” the man called Declan said as he winked at her, smiling widely, though the warmth never quite reached his eyes, “a vampire, shapeshifter, and a practitioner of magick can have.”
Chapter 7
Vampire!”
Libby’s eyes opened in horror and she looked up at Jaxon. His face was blank but she noted the tick that throbbed at his temple, and the tense set of his mouth. He looked pissed, and the resignation that flickered in his eyes scared the crap out of her.
“Did you think these were fake?” Ana hissed at her from behind, and Libby’s body started to tremble. Her tummy roiled in protest and she tried to push away, but the arms that held her tightened to the point of pain.
“Who are you people?” The words were barely louder than a whisper and fell from her white lips as her brain tried to wrap around everything.
“We used to be your family Libby, but that was a long time ago.” Declan moved away, his posture a testament to the turmoil that lived inside him.
“I don’t remember any of you.”
Declan paused, his eyes sweeping over her dismissively, his voice dry when he finally spoke. “Oh, don’t worry, darlin’, it will all come back in time…one way or another.”
She watched from the corner of her eye as Declan put his arm around Ana, his fingers caressing her shoulders in a show of comfort. The two of them left quietly, disappearing around the corner.