Until I ran him over in my car.
“Holy shit.” I got out of bed and went to the bathroom in a daze. “Holy shit.”
I did my morning routine, getting as far as getting dressed and gathering my purse. Ace would be there soon.
I paused in front of the mirror in the entry and stared at my reflection. For a moment, another woman stared back at me. She was shockingly similar but with silver-gray eyes and longer hair. Then my eyes paled into pure white and so did my skin. My reflection began to glow. “Holy shit!” I backed away.
My brain was going on the fritz. Glitching out. All those memories were fucking with me. I had to get my shit together. I took a deep breath, focused on my current self, and then looked at the mirror. I was back to being Salina. But I was still reeling from the shock.
It wasn't just the reincarnated lovers bit that rocked my world. It was Ace. Whoever he was now, back then, he'd been the only man who had never betrayed me. The only one who had notonly truly loved me, but who I had loved in return. And I had forgotten him. How the fuck could I forget him?
“Holy shit.” This changed everything.
Suddenly, all men weren't prone to betrayal. I didn't need to mate myself to a trio of hellhounds to ensure that my lover wouldn't go roaming. I knew there were good men out there. I had a good man centuries ago. And he had loved me so much that his soul had found me in a new life.
The dinging of the doorbell jolted me out of my reverie. I flinched and looked at the door. Ace was on the other side of it. My long-lost lover. A man who had risked everything to save me. Not because I was beautiful or good in bed. Because he liked my sense of humor. My intelligence. My tenacity. He loved me. Did he still? Was that why he was here, on my doorstep, again? Did he feel it too? Hadn't he said as much?
I hurried to the door, a smile splitting my face, and flung it open. “Ace, I have to tell you—”
A cloth covered my nose and mouth. I breathed in something sweet. Pleasant even. And then I was gone.
Who knew chloroform smelled good?
Chapter Twenty
I woke up swinging. As in swinging my fist. Someone grunted.
“Whoa now! You're safe, sugah.”
“Safe?!” I looked around. “Hardly.”
“We aren't going to hurt you,” Lex said.
I was lying atop a luxurious bed made with a velvet comforter. A ridiculous canopy hung over me. And on my every open side was a hound—Lex on my right, Cyrus on my left, and Jake stood at the foot of the bed, just beyond a chaise lounge. The room spread out beyond them, soaring up into high ceilings. Two tall windows, almost as tall as the walls, stared at me from across the way, framing Jake. A fireplace was off on the right—ridiculous in New Orleans. If we were still in New Orleans.
“Where are we?” I demanded.
“At our place.” Lex looked at his packmates.
“You're home now.” Jake pointed at me. “And you're staying put. No more wandering.”
“Oh, is that what you think?” I climbed out of bed, pushing Lex out of the way as I went, and confronted Jake. “I don't care for overbearing men. I downright detest them. So, ifyou think I'm gonna go all Stockholm and fall in love with my captors, you're dumber than all that grunting makes you sound.”
Jake hunched toward me and growled.
I slapped his growling face hard enough to swivel it.
Jake shook his head as a dog might, then refocused on me. His eyes started to glow.
“Whatchu gonna do?” I got in his face. “You gonna slap me back? Punch me? Bring it on, asshole! I've dealt with men like you in every one of my lives. Just because you're stronger than a normal man, it doesn't make me afraid of you. In fact, I will fucking laugh my ass off, back in the Blessed Isles, if you end up killing me by mistake.”
Jake blinked, his expression going baffled, then backed away.
“Yeah, that's what I thought.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Now, who's next? Lex? Cyrus? You want a piece of me?”
“No one wants to hurt you, Salina. We only want the chance to love you.” Cyrus sighed, his thick arms flopping to his sides as he looked at the others. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
“She was going to fuck that asshole,” Lex said.
