Glimmer Read online

  He reached over to grab a water cup from my bedside table and handed it to me.

  I raised my head and took a few sips then handed it back to him. I couldn’t remember the last time I was sick. Maybe over twenty years ago. Maybe never.

  “Did the hospital call?” In all the years I’d worked there, I’d never taken a sick day. At least, not until all this stuff with my father had happened.

  He nodded. “I told them you quit.”

  “What?” Maybe I had heard him wrong.

  “I told them you weren’t ever coming back.” His mouth spread into a wide smile.

  I sat up, confused, angry. “Why would you do that?”

  He tilted his head and regarded me. I found it strange how he was looking at me. A maniacal kind of gleam lit his eyes. “Because you’re dead, Nina. You drowned in the pond in the garden, remember?”

  I recoiled in horror. Scrambling away from his words and what he was saying to me. I shook my head. “Da, you’re confused. You don’t know what you’re saying.”

  His grin grew bigger, wider, impossible for his facial shape.

  I could see bits of green between his lips—it looked like algae, wet and dark, stuck in his gum line.

  “Nightfall is coming for you, darling. It’s pointless to fight it.” He grabbed my arm hard, his fingers digging into my skin.

  I tore at his hand, trying desperately to get away. But he had a strong hold on me. Impossibly strong.

  As I ripped and tore at him, he just smiled, as if we were play fighting, as if I was five and he was the tickle monster trying to make me giggle uncontrollably. But I wasn’t laughing. No, I was screaming.

  Especially when green tendrils, like ropey vines, burst through the back of his hands and wrapped around my wrists.

  “Stop fighting, stupidz girl,” he slurred as he pulled me close.

  I continued to fight, but lost all reason when the leafy vines exploded out his eyes and shot towards me…

  “Da!” I screamed as I bolted straight up from my bed like a wooden board.

  Gulping in air, I looked around, my hand pressed to my chest trying to keep my heart in. I was alone in my bedroom. Frantic, I swirled around, searching all corners of my room, but my father was nowhere to be seen.

  Sweating profusely, I ran my hands down my chest to my legs which were tangled tightly in the sheets. Like a cocoon, the cotton fabric hugged me tight. I felt constricted and tied down. Yes, the sensation was like someone had wrapped me up in rope—in vines.

  It was dream. An awful horrible terrifying nightmare. But a dream just the same.

  Once I could breathe properly, my lungs burning less, I shoved aside the sheets and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I wore my white cotton nightgown which was stuck to my body from what seemed like buckets of sweat. I was feverish and had been for the past day or so. For the first time in my life, I was sick. In a flash, the memories flooded back.

  After the night Severin had visited me, I had fallen ill. Sick to my stomach, I’d vomited for hours. Feeling weak and dizzy, I couldn’t stand. My dad had found me on all fours in the bathroom and he had helped me to my bedroom. And there I’d remained until now.

  I knew my dad had come and checked on me now and then. I sensed that he had, even if I didn’t totally remember it. Briefly, I remembered him sitting beside me on the bed and crying. His tears had dotted my hand. I could still feel the salty liquid on my skin.

  Unfortunately, the dreams were still fresh in my mind. Those I remembered. Fevered chaotic dreams about the woods and talking trees and violence and blood and cold water that screamed my name. If I took a deep breath, I knew I’d still smell the cloying metallic tang in the air.

  Pushing up to stand, I shuffled across the room, still feeling weak, but not as dizzy, not as out of control. I checked in my father’s room, but he wasn’t there. I padded down the stairs and into the living room. He was fast asleep on the sofa.

  I didn’t have the heart to wake him. Even in sleep, he looked worn out and tired. I’d probably given him the biggest scare of his life. A sick daughter who’d never been sick a day in her life.

  I rubbed a hand over my belly. It rumbled under my palm, reminding me that I hadn’t had anything in it in a long while. I went into the kitchen. Tea would be good. As I filled the tea pot and turned on the stove, I stared out the window toward the garden.

  The moonflowers were starting to unfurl their petals. Soon the night would be full dark. A time for those who moved in the shadows to come out and play.

  My gaze stayed on the ground where I had filled in the pond. It was still filled. The dirt hadn’t been disturbed. But as I looked, I fully expected something to burst through the soil. A hand maybe. A scaly pale hand with long blackened claws.

  They were coming for me. I could feel it in my bones. Not long before I faced my destiny. My destiny with those creatures from Nightfall.

  ***

  Chapter 10

  Although I wasn’t feeling one hundred percent, I returned to work the next day. Diana met me at the beginning of my shift at the triage desk and insisted I get a check-up. I agreed, not realizing that she would pull me into an unoccupied examining room that very second.

  “Sit.” She patted the examination table.

  “I’m fine, Diana. I really don’t need to be checked out. It was just the flu.”

  She pinned me with her steely no-nonsense gaze. “I’ve known you for years and you have never been sick. Not once. Not even the sniffles. You’ve probably never even had a yeast infection.” She unhooked the stethoscope from around her neck. “So, when I hear you’re so sick you can’t even talk on the phone, I get a little concerned.”

  I jumped up onto the table, realized I’d never once sat on one. Never had to, as I’d never been to see a doctor for any illness. In fact, I’d never been for yearly exams either. My mother, of course, knew there had been no point. I wasn’t even born in a hospital. My mother had a mid-wife at the house.

  “Open your mouth,” Diana directed.

  I did and she checked the usual things—glands, tonsils, tongue color, saliva consistency. She then ran her fingers over my neck just below my ears, feeling for the same things. She checked my ears and my eyes, then put on the cuff to read my blood pressure.

  Naturally, everything came out perfect. Diana would be hard pressed to find anything wrong with me.

  “All right. I’m going to listen to your heart.”

  She had me turn a bit so she could lift up my shirt enough to get her hand and stethoscope under. She pressed it to my back and listened. After a few minutes, she moved the plate around.

  Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted the instant concern on her face.

  “What the…?”

  I slid off the table in a flash, tugging down my tunic.

  Brows wrinkled, she frowned. “Nina, I think you should let me look at your back. I felt…”

  “I’m fine, doc, like I said. Nothing to be concerned about.”

  She hooked the stethoscope back around her neck.

  But I knew it wasn’t the end of her examination. She could be dogged. I’d seen her in action time and time again. Some of the nurses thought she was a grade-A bitch, but I knew she was just gruff and did what was needed to get the job done.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “About what?”

  “One in five women will suffer some sort of domestic abuse. It’s nothing to be ashamed about.”

  I laughed, full guffaws erupting from my mouth. Relieved in an odd way, that she thought I was being abused and not sprouting into some monstrous aberration.

  She flinched, obviously offended by my laughter.

  I put my hand on her arm to reassure her. “I’m not being abused, Diana. I’m not even in a relationship.”

  “Your father…?”

  I put my hand up to stop her next words. “Don’t even go there.”

  “But your back. It didn’t feel normal, Nina.”


  “I know. I’ve always had an abnormally bony back. I’m actually quite shy about it. I haven’t worn a bathing suit in a lot of years.”

  She looked at me for a long time, scrutinizing me.

  I’ve seen grown men with doctorates shrink under that steely gaze. But I was not a man, a doctor, or even human. Her analysis was lost on me.

  “All right,” she finally said, “Let’s go save some lives, then.” And like that she opened the examination room door and left me to it.

  With a sigh of relief, I walked out of the room and returned to the triage desk. Just as I grabbed my first patient chart, my cell phone trilled from my pocket. I slid it out and checked the number. Not one I recognized. But I answered it, in case the call was about my father. “Hello?”

  “I was worried about you.”

  Was it wrong that Severin’s sultry voice made my knees weak? “I just had the flu. Nothing serious.”

  “Hmm, you don’t seem like a woman who gets the flu.”

  Before I could even consider that statement and its meaning, he was talking again.

  “What time does your shift end?”

  “Six.”

  “I will be there to pick you up at six oh one.”

  “That’s very presumptuous. And what if I would like to shower and change my clothing first?”

  “You can shower at my place. I have a very nice shower with side jets. At least three people can fit inside.”

  I really hoped that wasn’t a glimpse of the future, or an innuendo. “I drove my bike to work. I won’t leave it here.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I got that covered.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to go to your place.”

  One of the other nurses gave me a funny look as she walked past. I was sure that my cheeks were on fire. Severin had that effect on my body. Just hearing his sex-dipped voice ignited everything inside me. I licked my lips, remembering the kiss we shared the other night.

  “Sure you do. You’re interested in the pack, aren’t you? There’s a gathering at my place and I’d love for you to be there.”

  Surprise ran through me. “Why? Why me, I mean?”

  “You’re more than the sum of your parts, Nina. You’re more than you can even know.” He paused for a beat, then continued, “Besides that, I want you and I mean to have you.”

  Those words had my belly clenching hard. “That simple, hey?” I rubbed a hand over the ache in my chest.

  He chuckled. “I’m of the firm mind that nothing will be simple with you. I’ll see you at six.”

  Then he was gone, and I held a dead phone, awestruck and dumbstruck. Not until that same nurse banged her clip board against the desk did I finally move. I closed the phone and slid it back into my pocket. Turning, I gave her a little smile then continued on my way—to the waiting room to call the next patient.

  By the time six rolled around, I had a raging headache and was running a fever. Strangely enough though, I didn’t feel sick. Not like I had before. Despite that, I didn’t think I’d be much of a date. Something was definitely off with me.

  When I walked out the main hospital doors, Severin was there, waiting for me. My heart leapt a little when I noticed him leaning against a really nice motorcycle. As I approached, I laughed. “You sure know how to impress a woman.”

  “Yeah, but you’re not just any woman.” He pushed off the bike and swept his arm toward it. “Do you like?”

  I ran a finger over the shiny black tank. “Hell yeah, I like. It’s an Interceptor, what’s not to like?” I’d been drooling over one ever since the model was released. I just didn’t have the cash to purchase one. Obviously, Severin did. Who knew an associate professor made so much money?

  Giving me one of his sexy grins, he dangled the keys in front of my face. “Want to drive it?”

  I made a face, excitement thrumming through me. “Hell yeah, I do. But what about my ride?”

  “You drive mine and I’ll drive yours.”

  The way he said those simple words made the suggestion sound extremely dirty and naughty. And tempting. This I liked.

  I tossed him my keys and motioned down the street. “It’s parked about half a block from here.”

  “I’m sure I can find it.” Clutching my keys in his hand, he jogged down the sidewalk to search for my bike.

  In the meantime, I marveled at his bike then slid my helmet over my head. Feeling freer than I had in weeks, I swung my leg over the seat. Once I was happily settled in, I stuck the key in the ignition and turned it on. The bike roared to life and I grinned. The engine was rumbling pleasantly between my legs as Severin rolled up next to me. My red bike looked good under him.

  He flipped up the dark visor on his helmet and smiled. “Ready?”

  “Lead the way. I’m right behind you.”

  For the next half hour, we sped through the city streets. Sometimes one after the other, other times side by side. Most of the time, I let him lead because basically I didn’t know where we were going, but the urge to shoot out in front constantly weighed on me.

  By the time we slowed, we were out of the city proper and into a picturesque suburb with lots of greenspace and trees. Not surprisingly, Severin pulled the bike into a long driveway that wound its way up to a large two-story with woods at its back. I supposed a werewolf needed his running room.

  He came to a stop at the front door and parked. I did the same next to him. He slipped off his helmet, hung it on the handlebar, and gestured to the house. “Welcome to chez Saint Morgan.”

  “Impressive.” I took in the two-story colonial, knowing in his market it had to be worth at least a million large. “I didn’t realize lowly university professors could afford such extravagance.”

  He held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me towards the front door. “It belongs to the pack in a way.”

  “And because you’re the alpha, it belongs to you?”

  “Yeah.” He opened the door and led me through.

  The front foyer was large, could have easily fit twenty people all jostling to remove their shoes so as not to dirty the gleaming tiled floor. Severin led me down a short corridor past the swooping staircase, to the kitchen. And what a kitchen. The room was enormous and made for cooking, and eating while visiting, which was exactly what was going on when we arrived. But the moment we entered, all talk and movement ceased. All eyes, five sets, were fixed on me instantly. I sensed the curiosity and the animosity of my arrival.

  “You can’t be serious bringing her here?” This from a heavy-set woman sitting on one of the stools at the kitchen island. A woman I recognized from the gas station the other night. The one that threatened me.

  I stared at her, too stunned to say anything.

  Severin squeezed my hand. “Do you question my authority, Roz?”

  The woman dropped her gaze, but not the sneer on her lips. “No, not your authority, Alpha. Your dick, maybe.”

  That sent a ripple of snickers through the room.

  I glanced at Severin to see his reaction, expecting anger. But he seemed unfazed. Amused even.

  “My dick is not pack business.” And with that, he pulled me through the kitchen, out the patio doors, and into the backyard.

  Several more people visited outside. At least another twelve. They also stopped what they were doing and stared at me.

  “Why is everyone looking at me?” I quietly asked Severin.

  “Because they see you.”

  “Well, yeah, I am standing right here.”

  He turned and regarded me with something akin to amusement. “They see you, Nina, for who you truly are.”

  I didn’t respond to that statement. I wasn’t sure what to say. Could they see the fae in me? Was that a werewolf thing? Did Severin really understand that I wasn’t one hundred percent human? “I’m pretty sure I don’t know what you mean.”

  He searched my face, tracing a finger down my cheek to my chin. He smoothed it there for a moment then dropped his hand, giving
me a half-smile. “Let’s get you that shower I promised and some food.”

  Not entirely sure what just transpired, I followed Severin back into the house. Although I felt like I was somehow on display, that Severin was parading me about in front of his pack, I couldn’t muster enough anger to make a scene. Being around Severin unnerved me but the closeness also had a calming effect. A sense of the familiar. As if my most inner being recognized his and approved of such a pairing.

  It didn’t hurt matters either that I was quite eager to see that exquisite naked form of his again. And if I had to be scrutinized by a bunch of werewolves for that to happen, then so be it. I was no wallflower. Intimidation didn’t work on me. If they truly did see me, then they’d know I wasn’t a woman to be trifled with.

  ***

  Chapter 11

  Severin’s exquisite shower was no boast. The enclosure could easily accommodate three people, and there were water jets coming from every angle. I took full advantage of that luxury. When I finally stepped out of the glass box, my muscles felt like warm moldable clay. I hadn’t been this relaxed and unguarded in a very long time.

  He had laid out a soft white terrycloth robe for me, and I slipped it on and padded out of the ensuite and into his enormous bedroom. He was there waiting, full wineglasses in hand.

  “I took the liberty of setting the table out on the balcony.” He handed me a glass. “The evening is gorgeous.”

  I followed him out onto the balcony where there was an intimate table for two set with what looked like expensive stainless steel cutlery and fine china. He pulled out my seat for me, I sat, and he lifted the lid on my plate to reveal grilled salmon, mushrooms, and a rice pilaf. My stomach rumbled at the sight. “It looks amazing, thank you.”

  “One of my pack is a gourmet chef. He works at one of the expensive restaurants downtown.”

  “Really? Who else are you hiding in the pack?”

  He cut into his steak and blood seeped out across the plate. “Two doctors, a lawyer, a professional hockey player, three actors, and a city official.” He popped the piece of meat into his mouth, smiling around it.

  “Doctors, hey? They don’t work at my hospital, do they?”