He gave her some more. "And then what?"
She wiped her arms. "I had borrowed a shovel from a nearby farm. I was returning it to the toolshed when the farmer found me. I was instantly overwhelmed with hunger."
"You bit him?"
She leaned over to wash her legs. "I ran outside and bit his cow. For the first few weeks I was so confused. So hungry, and so terrified that I might kill someone. I didn't know what to do. I hid in caves and fed off animals. I felt like I'd become an animal, too."
"Your...sire didn't help you to adjust?"
"Sigismund?" She snorted with disgust. "I wanted nothing to do with him or Marta. I left them the night I awoke."
"There's something I need to tell you." Phil frowned. "The prisoner at Romatech, the one they captured at Apollo's compound - it was Sigismund."
Vanda's breath caught. Her skin chilled. "Are - Are you sure?"
"Yes. He was one of the Malcontents masquerading as a god in order to feed off the girls and...rape them."
She sighed. That had been one more reason she'd fled from Sigismund. She had known he would abuse her. She could tell he had abused Marta, although her sister had seemed to want it. "I ran into him a few times when I was hiding in the caves. He would always laugh at me and say I was doomed. There was no way I could escape the almighty Casimir. Then I would teleport away before he alerted Jedrek Janow." She shuddered. "Sigismund is an abusive pig. I hope you guys made him suffer."
"We did," Phil said. "When I found out who he was, I nearly killed him."
But he didn't, she thought. Phil only killed in self-defense. He was an honorable person, unlike her.
Vanda rinsed the towel. "Marta's in America. I saw her at the warehouse in New Orleans, fighting with the Malcontents."
Phil winced. "That must have been a shock for you." He took the towel from her and rubbed her back.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his hands.
"How did you get involved with the underground resistance?" he asked.
Her eyes flew open. Good Lord, the man never gave up. "Do you know where your sister put those clothes she bought?"
"The bag's on the kitchen table." He set the towel on the counter. "You're avoiding the subject."
"You bet I am." She strode to the table and removed the items from the plastic bag. Underwear and bra, close to the right size, jeans and a western-style shirt.
"I realize it must be painful."
"Dressing like a cowgirl?" she asked wryly.
"No, talking about your past."
"Oh, do you think so? Can you imagine losing your father, your sister, and four brothers to war? Jozef was only twelve! I couldn't find out if they'd died in battle or were taken prisoner. I hoped they were prisoners, that they were still alive, but when I saw the concentration camps, I almost wished they were dead."
She strode back to the kitchen sink. "I learned how to teleport by accident. I was standing outside a camp one night, staring through the barbed wire and wishing there was a way I could get inside to see if my father or brothers were there. And the next thing I knew, everything went black and there I was, inside the camp."
She pulled off her underwear and rinsed it out in the sink. "I rushed through the bunkhouses, searching for my family, but they weren't there. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. So many prisoners, crammed in so tight."
The coffin cracked open. God, no, she didn't want to remember. All those prisoners, those gaunt, emaciated bodies, those haunted eyes filled with pain and despair.
"What happened then?" Phil whispered.
"A guard caught me." Her eyes blurred with tears. "I was so upset from seeing all the prisoners, and so hungry. I bit him." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I lost control and killed him."
She glanced at Phil through her tears, expecting to see disgust in his eyes. It wasn't there. This had to be a mistake. He didn't understand the magnitude of her sins. "I had to feed every night. Why torment some poor unsuspecting cow when I could kill a Nazi? And I did. Every night. I joined the underground. I would teleport into a camp, free some prisoners, and kill a Nazi all in a night's work."
Phil said nothing, just watched her intently.
She paced away. Dammit. The coffin was fully open now, and all her terrible sins had crept out. "One night, after I'd killed a guard, a vampire appeared before me. He said he'd been watching me for several weeks. He congratulated me for being a natural born killer. He gave me an ultimatum - join the True Ones or they would kill the leader of the resistance."
"Karl," Phil said softly.
She nodded. "The vampire was Jedrek Janow. He told me about the True Ones, the ones we now call Malcontents. He said they were in league with the Nazis. Once the Germans controlled the world, the True Ones would control the Nazis. I could be a part of it all. I could rule the world."
She rubbed her brow. "All I could think about was my father and brothers who were probably dead from fighting the Nazis. I told Jedrek to go to hell. And that's when he said he would send his personal pets to destroy me." She shuddered. "His wolves."
She paced back to the kitchen. "I ran to Karl to tell him what had happened. Three wolves came that night, and I managed to teleport Karl away. But every month when the moon was full, they would come after us. And there would be more and more of them. Then one night Karl killed one, and it changed into a human."
"And that's when you realized they were werewolves?" Phil asked.
"Yes. Karl bought us some silver bullets."
"Did you ever see the werewolves in human form?" Phil asked. "Other than the one you killed."
"No."
He nodded. "That explains it, then."
"Explains what?"
"Why you never recognized my scent. Shape shifters don't smell like normal humans. But we only have that unique scent when we're in human form. When we're wolves, we smell like wolves."
She sighed. "You talk about it so matter-of-factly, but you're not getting it. I was terrified. Every month we would find a new place to hide, and the wolves would track us down. They were relentless."
"I saw how frightened you were outside."
"I saw them rip Karl apart! They would have gotten me, too, but I managed to teleport away. And then I was all alone, hiding like a rat in the caves, searching for my father and brothers and never finding them, feeding off Nazis every night. I-I killed so many." She slumped in a kitchen chair and covered her face as tears ran down her cheeks. "I'm a monster."
The room was quiet except for her sniffles. She'd done it. She'd let him see inside her coffin of horrors. Let him see her for what she really was. And now he would look at her differently. Instead of seeing love in his beautiful blue eyes, she would see utter disgust.
"Vanda." He crouched beside her.
She covered her eyes so she couldn't see.
"Vanda, you lived through a hell no person should ever have to endure. You lost your family, your lover, your mortality. In those camps, you witnessed the worst kind of cruelty a human can inflict on another. You lived in constant fear and despair."
She lowered her hands. "I killed them. I didn't have to. I acted just like a Malcontent. I'm no better than they are. I know you hate them. So, I know you'll hate me."
"Come." He took her hand, pulled her to her feet, and led her to the sink. He pumped water onto the kitchen towel. "You were at war, Vanda. War is an ugly monster that forces people to do terrible things they would normally never do."
"It's no excuse."
"Yes, it is." He wrung out the towel. "When you came across those guards in the camps, you were an intruder. They would have killed you if you hadn't killed them first. It was self-defense." With the towel, he wiped the tears from her face.
More tears seeped from her eyes. "You - You can forgive me?"
"Of course. I - " He tilted his head. "Oh, I see."
"See what?" That she didn't deserve to be loved?
He dampened the towel once more. "I see why you have so much anger and frustration. It's not because you need my forgiveness. I have nothing to forgive." He wiped her face again. "Vanda, the problem is within you. You're not able to forgive yourself."
She blinked. "I did terrible things."
"It was war. And you did what you had to do to survive."
"You don't think I'm a monster?"
"No. I think you're an incredibly brave and beautiful woman."
A surge of relief swept through her. It flooded through her, washing away a heavy load of guilt and remorse. "I was so afraid you would hate me."
He smiled. "I love you. And I'll keep saying it till you believe me."
For the first time she actually did believe it deep inside. For the first time in many years she felt worthy of love. She smiled back. "I do believe you. And I love you, too."
Still smiling, he dampened the towel with water. "I'm glad you finally told me everything."
Vanda nodded. The coffin in her mind was wide-open. It was still there, and it always would be, but it didn't look scary anymore.
She gasped when the wet towel was suddenly pressed between her legs. "What are you doing?"
He rubbed the towel against her. "I believe you requested two rounds of lovemaking: one with the beast and one with the gentleman." He rinsed the towel off, then began washing himself. "The gentleman is at your service."
"Phil, wake up." She nudged him. "The phone's for you."
He jerked awake and sat up.
"It's Connor." She offered him the cell phone. When it had started ringing, she'd moved with vampire speed to find it. It had been in his jeans in the cellar.
She'd answered it while levitating back to the ground floor. Then she'd levitated again, to the loft where she and Phil had made love a few hours earlier.
"Hey, Connor." Phil listened on the phone. He sat up straighter. "That's great!"
Vanda perched on the edge of the bed, listening. From what she could overhear, it sounded like Laszlo had completed the tracking device. It would be daylight on the East Coast in about five minutes. As soon as Sigismund was in his death-sleep, the device would be implanted in him. Then they would accidentally let him escape right after sunset. They hoped he would lead them straight to Robby.
"Yeah, I'll fight," Phil said. "Just send someone to get me."
Vanda swallowed hard. Of course, Phil would want to fight. He was probably good friends with Robby. They'd both been stationed at Jean-Luc's place in Texas.
If something happened to Phil, how could she bear it? She'd lost so many loved ones to war.
"I'll need a sword," Phil continued. "I only have a handgun here."
He wouldn't die like Karl had, Vanda told herself. He had super strength and speed. For the first time, she realized how grateful she should be that he was a werewolf. A normal mortal wouldn't stand a chance.
"Right. I'll be ready." Phil hung up.
"So the battle will be tonight?" Vanda asked.
"We hope so." He looked her over. "Your hair's wet."
"I got bored. There's nothing to do here. At least, not when you're asleep." She poked his foot. "I found some shampoo and washed my hair in the kitchen sink." She'd also put on the western clothes Brynley had bought.
She stood. "How do I look?"
He smiled. "You're the best-looking purple-haired cowgirl I've ever seen."
She huffed. "I should take my whip to you."
"I should peel those jeans off you."
Her mouth twitched. "You have a one-track mind."
"I can't help it. I'm an animal." He pulled her onto the bed, and she giggled.
He tugged at her shirt, popping the snaps open.
"Wait." She rested a hand on top of his. "Do we have time? I'd hate for your sister to walk in."
"Let me check." He climbed out of bed and peered out the little window in the loft. He might be looking at the full moon, but Vanda was scoping out the heavenly body. Strong back, gorgeous rump. Her skin began to tingle. Good God, she could get excited just looking at him.
"We have almost an hour." He turned to face her.
She sucked in a breath. He was already thick with arousal. "You started without me."
His gaze drifted to her jeans and his nostrils flared. "No, I haven't."
She struggled to unsnap and unzip her jeans. Meanwhile he strode to the foot of the bed and removed her boots. His bare skin took on a red tint from the glow of her eyes.
He seized the hem of her jeans and yanked them off. "You have five seconds to remove your underwear or I'll shred them."
She wiggled out of her panties and feigned a shudder. "Oooh, I'm scared. The big bad wolf's in town."
With a grin, he stalked toward her on his hands and knees. "My, what sweet legs you have." He nipped at her thigh.
"The better to squeeze you with, my dear." She sat up to remove her bra.
His eyes gleamed blue. "What sweet breasts you have."
"The better to entice you with, my dear."
With a growl, he shoved her back on the bed. He drew a nipple into his mouth and suckled.
She moaned. "What a great tongue you have."
He looked at her with twinkling eyes. "The better to eat you with." He nibbled down her belly.
