Eyes Like a Wolf Read online

  “Richard!” I backed away from him, feeling the icy fist of fear clutch at my throat. “What…what do you want?” I asked in a voice that shook more than I wanted it to.

  “The same thing I've always wanted.” He rose from the bed and came toward me. “You.”

  I backed up until I felt my dresser hit the back of my thighs. Trapped! I felt my pulse skittering in my throat like a small, frightened animal. Would he kill me the same way he'd killed Rat Face in the park? Or would he make it slow and painful?

  Richard frowned at me as I backed away. He took another step toward me, a look of concern on his dark face.

  “Stop!” I held out a hand that trembled so much I had to put it down. “Stay…stay away from me,” I said, forcing the words out past numb lips. Charles…Genevieve…everyone who had warned me about him had been right, but I had been too bullheaded to see it. Now I would die for my stubbornness, I was sure.

  “Rache?” Richard looked at me as though I was crazy. “What's wrong with you? It's only me—Richard.”

  “Only you. Only you?” I laughed, a high hysterical sound that frightened me. I had to get hold of myself! I took a deep breath. “Which Richard are you talking about?” I asked in a calmer tone. “The loving older brother who tracked me down to be with me after all these years? Or the…the animal I just saw rip a man's throat to bloody rags in the park? Which is it, Richard? Which one?”

  His darkly handsome face took on a haggard look. “Both,” he said heavily. “They're both me, Rachel. But I killed that man to save you. Surely you can understand that. Look.” He stripped off his jacket and shirt rapidly, revealing powerful shoulders and the muscular planes of his chest. On his right side, just below the flat copper disk of his nipple was a bloody, puckered hole. A bullet hole, I realized. So the gunshot hadn't missed him after all. And yet, he didn't seem to be in distress from the wound. Didn't seem to have a collapsed lung or internal bleeding. Then again, what did I know about internal bleeding? I was a lawyer, not an MD.

  “You have to understand,” he said again.

  “All I understand is that I saw you turn into…into some kind of monster,” I said. As I spoke, anger overcame my fear, and I stood up straighter, my voice gaining strength. “And that man wouldn't have been trying to kill me in the first place if you hadn't killed that pimp—Chulo Martinez—and pissed off Momo 'the shark' Andretti. They were trying to make an example of me tonight—all because of you.”

  “You don't have to worry about that, about them coming after you anymore. I took care of it. Please, Rachel…” He put out a hand to me, as though to touch my bare shoulder. I pulled away from him.

  “Don't touch me,” I said sharply. “And don't lie to me anymore either. You keep asking me to understand. What do I have to understand, Richard? That you came to town, murdered a pimp, and lied to me about it? That you got me to lie, too? I told Genevieve Marks that there was no way you could've killed Chulo. I got her to release you into my custody. I convinced her to release a monster.”

  “I'm not a monster,” he said, but there was doubt in his voice. Doubt and self-loathing. “At least, I don't have to be anymore. Not if you'll help me.”

  “What do you want me to do?” I spat. “Lie for you some more?”

  “No.” He took another step forward, trapping me between the dresser and his big body. I could feel his heat like fire radiating against my skin, could smell his spicy, masculine fragrance as I did every time I was with him. The scent of the Amon-kai. “No, Rachel,” he said. “Just touch me. Be with me. Love me, and let me love you. That's all I ask—all I've ever wanted.”

  I looked at him and couldn't hide the loathing and fear in my eyes. “Are you crazy? Richard, have you been paying any attention to who I am and what I do the last couple of weeks? I'm a prosecutor—I put people like you away.”

  “People like me don't exist outside of fairy tales and nightmares,” he said, leaning down to look into my eyes. “Except for you, Rachel. We're the only two—the only two that I know of, anyway. Please, can't you see I need you by my side?”

  “I can see you need serious help,” I said. “Now get away from me.”

  “No.” He leaned against the dresser, putting his hands on either side of me to block my escape. “This is what I wanted to avoid. This is what I've been hiding from you, Rachel. My other nature—the dark face of the brethren of the Amon-kai. And had I been successful in seducing you, you never would have had to see it at all.”

  “What the hell does it matter if I let you fuck me or not?” I shouted in his face. “It wouldn't change the fact that you killed a man and lied about it. It wouldn't change the fact that you're a monster.”

  “I've killed many, many men, dear little sister,” he said, his voice a soft, menacing growl. “And with every one I wanted you more. With every one I redoubled my efforts to find you. Because I knew that only by binding you to me could I ever have a hope of stopping the bloody urge that lives beneath my skin.”

  The pale green glow was back in his eyes, making them shine like demonic lamps. I felt like a cold hand had reached inside my chest and squeezed my heart. He was telling me that Chulo and Rat Face weren't the only two people he'd killed. He was telling me that he was a murderer many times over. Possibly a serial killer. Dear God. And I had invited him into my house and let him sleep in my bed. Hell, I'd kissed him and let him touch me in ways no other man had ever touched me. I'd nearly made love to him, despite Charles, despite the fact that we had been raised as siblings, despite my own better judgment. If I died tonight, it would be my own fault. The same as if I had put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger.

  Richard must have seen the look of terror and disgust on my face because he drew away from me and seemed to shrink back to his normal height. He looked tired and worn down suddenly—a man who has struggled against his demons and lost.

  “It's the curse, Rachel, don't you see? The curse of the Amon-kai. Remember what I told you? The sons of Anubis are forced to wear the true face of their father, once a month at the full moon. And they must bathe in blood before they can return to their human forms.”

  “I…I don't understand,” I said, shaking my head. “What are you telling me, Richard? That you're some kind of a…I don't know…some kind of a werewolf? And you feel compelled to kill someone every full moon?”

  “I don't feel compelled—I am compelled,” he said earnestly. “What you saw tonight was nothing. It was voluntary. But once a month when the full moon is in the sky, I become a creature that is neither wolf nor human but partially both—a form which truly is monstrous. And then I'm nothing but a savage, ravening beast. When that happens, there are only two ways to regain my human form.” He looked at me intently. “Either I have to join with my Lana-zeel, something I have yet had the opportunity to do, or…I have to kill someone.”

  “Oh my God.” I actually felt faint. I think I started to fall because the room tilted, and then suddenly I was sitting on the bed, still wearing only my panties, with Richard beside me. His bare muscular arm was around my shoulders, supporting me gently.

  “Are you all right?” he asked earnestly. “Want me to get you a drink of water?”

  I shook my head, then laughed, an ugly, cracked sound, even to my ears. My brother was a serial killer who felt compelled to bathe in blood every full moon, but aside from that, he was such a sweet considerate guy. Who'd have thought? Richard was talking again. I dragged my mind back from the edge of the abyss and made myself listen.

  “Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you, Rachel?” he was saying. “I can't make myself stop—only you can stop me. Only you can break the curse. The Lanor-zur needs his Lana-zeel to stop killing. I need to make love to you, to seal our bond, in order to control the blood lust.”

  “Richard,” I said, feeling like I might be sick. “I'm sorry about the shitty life you had. Mom had no right to take me away from you and refuse to see you ever again. And when Dad died, too, well, I guess your mind