Familiar Strangers

  Familiar Strangers

  By Allie Standifer

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2015 Allie Standifer

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedication

  As always for David: You left me too early, but always remain in my thoughts and heart. I miss you every day.

  Chapter One

  The Beginning

  The bitch had to die. Tonight. He would destroy her heart and devastate her soul. The hour was late. Though the hot Louisiana night was covered in blackness, Rupert walked quickly toward his destination. Anger burned inside him. How dare she refuse him!

  Norah had been promised to him. There could be no other. They were destined to meet and join. He had to have her. She and her insufferable Colin Devereaux left him no other choice but her death.

  Rupert’s hand clenched the box within his pocket that housed a perfect four-carat diamond ring. He had seen how she’d been so pleased with the tawdry trinket Devereaux had given her. How could she choose some cheap piece of velvet ribbon over his flawless gift? She hadn’t even bothered to touch the ring, let alone try it on.

  She was perfect for him. There wasn’t another woman in the land more beautiful or as capable of bringing him power. He needed Norah far more than any mortal could imagine. Their union had been foretold eons ago on the night of a black moon. Her blood would mix with his, granting him the immortality he’d sacrificed his soul for. Once he had her, the Old One who could speak directly with the source of the dark power would take over. The dark witch would grant him the power he needed to convert what he desired.

  Rupert smiled to himself. Norah would be his tonight, then die for her refusal.

  He saw her in the distance. The game began.

  ****

  Faster.

  She must run faster. Rupert could not catch her. If he succeeded, the voice whispered, it would mean her death. More important, it would mean the death of the man she loved.

  Branches snagged her hair and scratched her face, yet still she ran. Ignoring the throbbing in her side and the rough ground beneath her silk slippers, she grabbed her skirts and pulled them higher, determined to reach safety before he caught her.

  Norah heard the harshness of his breathing behind her. How much farther? Where was that blasted church? She should have been in the arms of her love by now. Her legs felt heavy. Each step felt as if she ran in water. Sounds of dark murmurings weighed the space above, pressing down upon her, making the air impossible to breathe.

  The night was shadowy with only the black moon in the sky to help guide her to safety. There was a strange stirring in the air, causing the wind to rise and the trees to sway unnaturally with the threat of rain.

  The chapel should be only a few more feet away, but in the darkness it was difficult to tell where she was running. Her fear intensified as the hideous chanting grew louder.

  Panting sounds grew closer, as was the thunder and lightning of the unexpected storm.

  She must hurry and warn Colin of the treachery afoot.

  A beam of light broke through the trees ahead like a beacon in the dark pointing to the church. Gusts of wind whipped from every direction. Norah gave a quick silent prayer in gratitude for making it safely and then searched the shadows for signs of her love.

  Hard fingers grabbed her from behind and brought her up sharply against a strong male chest. “Looking for me, my lady?” came the sultry voice out of the darkness.

  “Rupert!” she hissed. “How dare you touch me? When Colin—”

  “Your Colin can do nothing. He is being entertained at this very moment by—” he pursed his lips in thought. “Let’s just say that he’s being well entertained.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “You lie! Colin would never consort with another woman.” Or would he? Uncertainty tore at her heart. Where was Colin? He had promised to meet her an hour before midnight. His note promised everything had worked out and they would be married this very night.

  “Your Colin will do nothing to help you. If it’s proof you seek, I shall be more than happy to provide it.” His clasp on her arms tightened, ensuring there would be bruises on her pale flesh as he pushed her toward the darkened grounds of the church.

  She threw back her neck and let the cold wind blow against her exposed face. “You are a despicable coward and I shall have nothing further to do with you. Now release me at once before my father hears of this.”

  He laughed, the sound harsh and without humor. “Neither your father nor your lover can help you now. You are under my rule, and I will give the orders from now on, Norah.”

  Her skin grew clammy as fear surged through her body. Rupert was right. There was no one else about this night. No one who would hear her cries for help. Norah shivered within his grasp as the reality of the situation crashed upon her.

  He smiled. “Yes, my dear, shake in my presence. You finally understand. You are at my mercy, of which, I will show you none.” He paused. “Now where could your precious swamp rat be, hmmm?” Rupert stroked his pointed chin as his eyes searched the murky night. “Ah, I believe we’ve interrupted, but look your fill, my lady. Then, we are on to other amusements this night.”

  He roughly jerked her to the covered path connecting the church and rectory. Within the candle lit church, she made out the shapes of two people entwined, heads close, lips pressed together. Strong male limbs clutched tightly around feminine shoulders.

  “Oh Colin, no,” Norah whispered, but the truth was in front of her eyes. The man she loved and offered her soul to was in the arms of another woman.

  “So you see, he wasn’t the man you thought him to be. He’s not worthy of you. He betrays your devotion by rutting with a common bayou slut.” His hushed voice barely audible against the raging storm.

  “How could he?” she whispered through tears. Why would he? What hadn’t she given him? Why hadn’t she been enough?

  “Easily, it would seem.” Rupert smiled. “You deserve someone better than him.” He pushed her back into the trees and pulled a small blade from his pocket. The shiny metal caught the light from the church. A knife! He threatened her with a knife?

  Terror paralyzed every muscle in her body. “Rupert, what are you doing? You’ve already destroyed the only thing that mattered in my life. Isn’t that enough?”

  He placed tip of the sharp knife against her cheek and dragged it down to her neck. “I didn’t want it to come to this, my dear, truly I did not, but you’ve left me with no other choice.”

  “You will never get away with this,” she warned him, wondering why she bothered. “My father will find me and then he’ll hunt you down.”

  He looked around the dark forest as if searching for a particular spot and began pulling her roughly behind him. “By the time your precious father finds you, it will be too late.”

  He towed her into a clearing she’d not noticed before. The trees gave way to a small area where a tiny circles of stones were laid on the ground.

  As they reached the circle, a woman draped from head to toe in a black cape stepped from the night. “You’ve brought her then?” the stranger whispered.

  “Yes,” his voice lowered.

  “And the bond?” the woman questioned, her voice rough with age. “It is broken?”

  Sick laughter poured from Rupert’s twisted lips. “Compl
etely,” he assured. “Is everything in order?”

  The woman nodded beneath her hood. “Yes, my lord, everything is as you wished.”

  “Good. Come along, Norah. There is no time to waste.” He caught her wrist, giving her no chance to escape.

  “Who are you?” Norah questioned, trying to peer under the woman’s cloak.

  “I am no one you will find help from this night, my lady,” the woman cackled. Norah twisted her head looking from one dark figure to the other. “What do you want of me?” Rupert remained silent and continued to pull her toward a circle of rocks. As she got closer, she saw wood stacked and ready to use within the circle. “What is this place and why have you brought me here?”

  Rupert gave a sharp tug to her arm, causing her to stumble and fall in the dirt at his feet. “Enough of this, woman. You shall cease to speak or it will go worse for you.” He threatened her in a voice so harsh she was left with no doubt but to believe him. “Shouldn’t you be mourning the betrayal of your precious Colin?”

  Norah flinched, the words striking harder than any physical blow. She wouldn’t think of Colin now. To do so would cause her heart to break and her soul to bleed. Later, when she was safe and alone at home, she would bring the pain to light and mourn the love that never existed outside her heart.

  She scanned the area more thoroughly this time, trying to find a way to escape this mad man and his accomplice. Even aided by the lightning flashes, the blackness of night was too thick to see much more than the area in which she was confined.

  The hooded woman held up a lamp, revealing a hand withered with age. She then lifted a wicked looking knife in her left. “She is the one?”

  Rupert nodded.

  More whispers came from underneath the black cloak, and then the dark woman raised both gnarled hands above her head. As her arms went higher, the woman tilted her head back, causing her hood to fall away.

  Norah barely choked back the scream forcing itself though her lungs. The unknown woman was hideous. Her gray hair hung in strangled knots down her back like a forgotten sailor’s rope. Her misshapen face was marked with deep scars. One ran from the bottom of her cheek, straight through to where her eye should have been. In all her life, Norah had never seen another human being as maimed as the one now standing in front of her.

  “My face disgusts you, my lady?” The crone snorted. “What I endured is nothing compared to what you shall experience this night for rejecting my master. Though it is no more than what one of your kind deserves.”

  Norah turned to glare at Rupert. “This,” she waved her hand, “is because I rejected your suit?” “It is not that you rejected me, my lady, it is who you rejected me for.” He sneered down at her. “I would have given you everything you could have desired. I would have dressed you in silks and satins. Covered your skin in diamonds and rubies. Yet you refused everything I offered for the sake of a man with nothing to give you but a scrap of velvet.” “I refused you because my heart belongs to another. I cannot give you that which I no longer own. No matter what you might offer his love is beyond price to me.” And beyond grasp, her mind persisted in reminding her.

  “Such pretty words for a man who lied and deceived you. I wonder what your true love will say after I finish with you?” He touched a gloved finger to her cheek, tracing from her eye to her lips. “Such a shame to mar something so beautiful. But you’ve left me no other choice.” He turned from her. “Shall we begin?”

  The hag nodded, motioning to bring his captive closer to the fire burning bright within the circle. “You must say the words and have her repeat them. In no other way will this work. Then take this knife,” she thrust the blade into his outstretched hand, “and blend the blood to make the bond. It must be done soon, as I fear we will be discovered.”

  “You worry over much, witch. There is no one about this night. We are safe here,” he assured her. “Her prized lover is otherwise occupied, isn’t that right, my dear?”

  Norah turned her head, not wanting to give him the pleasure of the pain she knew was etched on her face.

  “We’re too close to the white light,” the hag’s voice whispered. “It may offer protection for those who seek it.”

  Rupert scoffed. “There is no one here who seeks such protection.”

  “Just the same, I beg you hurry. There is too much power in that one,” she said, pointing her gnarled finger toward Norah. “I feel her rage and fear. It is good, but there is something more, something stronger than both of those together. Almost as if she...” the crone stopped under the fierce glare of her lord. She frowned, then crossed the ground, placing a finger under the Norah’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet. “What power do you claim to hold off against me?”

  Without thinking, Norah spit in the old woman’s face. “I have no power other than truth. If anything should defeat something as evil as you both are, it shall be truth.”

  “Bah! Truth and honesty are for fools and children, nothing more. You will have to do better than that to fight me this night.”

  Scrambling to her feet, Norah slowly backed away. “You will not hold me where my heart is not bound, nor shall you kill that which you cannot understand. In this way, you will never defeat me.” Without another word, she spun on her heel and ran, dodging trees and limbs blown loose from the threatening storm. If she could just reach the church, she would find safety within.

  She heard the hag screeching in the night and the sounds of Rupert’s heels thundering on the hard ground behind her. Just a few more yards and she would be safe. Norah focused on the one light ahead that broke the darkness and did not see the exposed tree root until it was too late. She tumbled to the ground.

  “Bitch,” Rupert panted. He drew back his hand and slapped her across the face. “You defy me yet again. No more.” His face was red from anger and his eyes shot white with rage. He hit her again, drawing blood. “You will not win. I will not allow you. You will belong to me in a time yet to come. This I swear upon my dark master’s name.” He grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her until her teeth rattled and her head snapped back.

  Norah struggled away, clawing the ground in search of a weapon, but found nothing save a small branch. She twisted until she faced him again. If she were to die this night, she would not do so without a fight. She would make sure he would be marked, never able to forget the events of this night.

  Blood poured down her face, stinging her eyes. “You will never have me, not in this life or any other,” she screamed. Ripping open the clasp at her cloak, Norah exposed the cameo, which hung from the velvet ribbon at her neck. “This is love and truth,” she said, clasping the necklace in her hand, “something you can never touch or shatter. It will never belong to you, just as I will never be yours. This is a symbol of everything you will never have and everything I’ve freely given Colin.”

  Norah forced herself to ignore the pain slamming into her head when Rupert’s gaze fixed upon her neck. Launching herself straight at his face, she plunged the wooden weapon deep into his left eye. Before he could stop her from another attack, she pulled the branch out and made to plunge it again, but he deflected her aim, and the stick raked against the side of his cheek.

  Dark blood gushed from his eye and the deep wound she’d made in his cheek, but Rupert was a man possessed. He didn’t cry out from his injuries or scream in pain. Instead, he squeezed her wrist, forcing her to drop the only weapon at her disposal.

  Then Norah made the mistake of looking into his remaining eye. His face seemed to explode with anger.

  Rupert grabbed her fingers holding the cameo and pried them away. “This is not a symbol of love but of betrayal.” Blood flowed in streaks down his cheek. “It will be a symbol of your death and everything I am taking from you.”

  He snatched the ribbon from her neck while forcing her back to his chest. She struggled against him, but he seemed almost otherworldly, her nails having no effect, her struggles gaining her nothing.

  He took the velve
t, wrapped it around her neck, and tightened it until she could feel fabric pinching the delicate skin around her throat. This could not be how her life would end. She had made so many plans with Colin. The home they would make together, the children they would have, everything being denied her by the whim of a madman. No, not by a madman, she reminded herself, but by Colin. He never loved her, never truly wanted her. His prize would have been her father’s money and land. She was a convenient means to an end. Nothing more.

  She cursed, using up her precious store of oxygen. Black dots danced before her eyes and her head burned with a strange heat.

  No, she pleaded silently. Please, not this way.

  Too late. She felt the weakening of her legs and arms. She had nothing left inside to fight with. The dots grew and merged until they filled her vision.

  A white light appeared out of the rain, prompting her to move closer. The glow intensified until it eclipsed the darkness, sheltering her within a cocoon of safety and warmth. Like being placed in a protective bubble, her face no longer ached from the force of his blows, the burning in her lungs for life-giving oxygen now ebbed and the pain from her heart floated out on the wings of the wind.

  Although she knew Colin’s words to be false and his heart closed, she had given herself to him. Even now, in light of his deceit, she couldn’t reclaim her heart and soul, for they had been given truly and without strings.

  Colin.

  Before the light completely surrounded her, Norah made one last conscious vow. “This is not over. Find me Colin, no matter the distance or time, find me. My love will guide you. Remember all we have shared. I’ll carry the pain of your betrayal and lies beyond my death. Upon my blood this I vow.” Gasping for air that did not come, she surrendered to the light.

  Rupert felt the power and life draining from her body as he tightened the ribbon around her throat. There was an erotic fascination when he felt her struggles stop, caused by her life force abandoning the shell of her body. He could hear the hag chanting back in the woods. This is what he’d planned. If he couldn’t have Norah’s body, he would settle for stealing her soul.