Dire Desires: A Novel of the Eternal Wolf Clan by Stephanie Tyler Page A
Authors: Stephanie Tyler
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self-preservation more ingrained than that.
It was only after the hunters passed and he and Cain ran for several more hours did Rogue realize he hadn’t seen a single spirit. Not a real one, anyway, but it had gotten to the point where he’d begun to realize that his flashbacks of his time spent in hell might not be flashbacks after all.
Maybe, for the first time in his life, the spirits were as scared of him as he was of himself.
Chapter 13
T he roof was thesecond-best place for this discussion. Jinx would’ve much preferred the woods, but everyone was on high alert looking for Gillian and her five-million-dollar self. So Jez would go out hunting around, making sure the monsters from purgatory weren’t out and about, and Jinx wondered if Rogue would be too.
When Rogue saw the monsters for himself, Jinx knew he’d hear from his twin. For now, he led Gillian to the rooftop terrace where he’d laid out Chinese food and beers and for the better part of an hour, they ate and laughed a little. She’d spent the day parked in front of the TV, getting angry with each sentence her parents spoke, but she hadn’t mentioned it yet.
Instead, she curled her feet up on the chair, her bare feet under her, beer balanced on her thigh. “That was great. Thanks.”
“Welcome.” He drained his own beer. It would take him at least a case to feel any kind of drunk, and tonight, he’d welcome that. He thought about Rifter—he could’ve gone to his king, asked what it was like to have to tell a woman who thought she was human that she wasn’t. Could’ve asked Gwen’s advice too. Hell, Gwen might be the best person to give this talk.
But Jinx’s wolf didn’t want anyone near Gillian. Brother was . . . attached. And ready to attack anyone who got in his way.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked finally. “I know you’re restless.”
Indeed, when she wasn’t staring at the TV screen, she’d been pacing so much he was sure she wore the floor down.
“I’ve got a lot of energy lately,” she admitted. “I wish I could go for a walk.”
He nodded in understanding, but they both knew it wasn’t possible, not with the amount of scrutiny her picture was receiving at this moment. Even if she cut her hair and dyed it, covered her eyes with contacts, he had an odd feeling she’d still be discovered.
And she’d told him she didn’t relish the thought of walking around in a disguise for the rest of her life. If it came down to it, however, she would do it before she ever went back to her parents or the hospital.
“I have a few things I need to know about you,” he started, breaking her from her reverie. She stared at him with something akin to disappointment in her eyes, but not surprise. She had to have known he’d need to know about all of it sooner or later. And maybe because he’d saved her or maybe for other reasons he didn’t yet know, she said, “You want to know more about why I was in that institution to start with.”
“Only if you want to talk about it.”
She shrugged, and he knew she’d rather talk about anything else. But learning her symptoms was an important lead-in. “I was always a little hard for them to handle. My mother always looked at me like I was some alien who’d landed on her doorstep. When I started to refuse to wear the fussy dresses, she shipped me off to a boarding school. I didn’t mind that so much. But when I came back for summer vacations, that was the worst. The year I turned seventeen, I was doing the same things as others in my so-called social circle—running around, drinking, smoking. Making out with boys . . . did you just growl?”
He touched his canines with his tongue, keeping his mouth closed because they’d extended.
Down Brother . . . she’s talking past.
But Brother didn’t differentiate. “Just clearing my throat. So yeah, basically what teenage girls do.”
“Right,” she said, casting a doubting look at him. “I mean, I had my parents’
It was only after the hunters passed and he and Cain ran for several more hours did Rogue realize he hadn’t seen a single spirit. Not a real one, anyway, but it had gotten to the point where he’d begun to realize that his flashbacks of his time spent in hell might not be flashbacks after all.
Maybe, for the first time in his life, the spirits were as scared of him as he was of himself.
Chapter 13
T he roof was thesecond-best place for this discussion. Jinx would’ve much preferred the woods, but everyone was on high alert looking for Gillian and her five-million-dollar self. So Jez would go out hunting around, making sure the monsters from purgatory weren’t out and about, and Jinx wondered if Rogue would be too.
When Rogue saw the monsters for himself, Jinx knew he’d hear from his twin. For now, he led Gillian to the rooftop terrace where he’d laid out Chinese food and beers and for the better part of an hour, they ate and laughed a little. She’d spent the day parked in front of the TV, getting angry with each sentence her parents spoke, but she hadn’t mentioned it yet.
Instead, she curled her feet up on the chair, her bare feet under her, beer balanced on her thigh. “That was great. Thanks.”
“Welcome.” He drained his own beer. It would take him at least a case to feel any kind of drunk, and tonight, he’d welcome that. He thought about Rifter—he could’ve gone to his king, asked what it was like to have to tell a woman who thought she was human that she wasn’t. Could’ve asked Gwen’s advice too. Hell, Gwen might be the best person to give this talk.
But Jinx’s wolf didn’t want anyone near Gillian. Brother was . . . attached. And ready to attack anyone who got in his way.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked finally. “I know you’re restless.”
Indeed, when she wasn’t staring at the TV screen, she’d been pacing so much he was sure she wore the floor down.
“I’ve got a lot of energy lately,” she admitted. “I wish I could go for a walk.”
He nodded in understanding, but they both knew it wasn’t possible, not with the amount of scrutiny her picture was receiving at this moment. Even if she cut her hair and dyed it, covered her eyes with contacts, he had an odd feeling she’d still be discovered.
And she’d told him she didn’t relish the thought of walking around in a disguise for the rest of her life. If it came down to it, however, she would do it before she ever went back to her parents or the hospital.
“I have a few things I need to know about you,” he started, breaking her from her reverie. She stared at him with something akin to disappointment in her eyes, but not surprise. She had to have known he’d need to know about all of it sooner or later. And maybe because he’d saved her or maybe for other reasons he didn’t yet know, she said, “You want to know more about why I was in that institution to start with.”
“Only if you want to talk about it.”
She shrugged, and he knew she’d rather talk about anything else. But learning her symptoms was an important lead-in. “I was always a little hard for them to handle. My mother always looked at me like I was some alien who’d landed on her doorstep. When I started to refuse to wear the fussy dresses, she shipped me off to a boarding school. I didn’t mind that so much. But when I came back for summer vacations, that was the worst. The year I turned seventeen, I was doing the same things as others in my so-called social circle—running around, drinking, smoking. Making out with boys . . . did you just growl?”
He touched his canines with his tongue, keeping his mouth closed because they’d extended.
Down Brother . . . she’s talking past.
But Brother didn’t differentiate. “Just clearing my throat. So yeah, basically what teenage girls do.”
“Right,” she said, casting a doubting look at him. “I mean, I had my parents’
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