Page 20 of Isabel and the Werewolf Beast

If I couldn’t touch her inside the castle but I could outside, then I needed to get her outside so I could tend to her wounds, which were still oozing blood onto the floor. I swiped a finger in the blood and lifted it away wet. How was that possible? How can I touch her blood but not her?

Why hadn’t she told me more about this curse?

My gaze lifted to the stairs. Would the library hold the answers to what I sought? Did she have enough time for me to read hundreds of books looking for a cure to her curse and whatever the plants did to her in the labyrinth?

One problem at a time.

She’d been in the curse for a long time. A little longer wouldn’t hurt her, but these wounds looked nasty. Why wouldn’t the blood stop? I examined the slight wound on my arm from the thorns. It still seeped blood, but it was barely a scratch. Not like the way the thorns had anchored themselves into Isabel’s arms like hooks.

I had to stop the bleeding. To do that, I had to take her outside where I could touch her.Think.I stood and paced the entryway, but no solution arose to me. I picked up the nearest object, a vase of white porcelain and blue flowers, and threw it against the wall. It shattered into hundreds of pieces. The rage dissipated as I stared in horror at the broken vase, which I was sure was a Ming. Damn, how much was it worth? Millions? Would Isabel forgive me?

Shit. She needed to survive to do that.

My gaze shot to her ghostly form lying on the rug. Was it another priceless collector’s item?Wait.If I yanked the rug outside, would Isabel stay on it? Only one way to find out. She’d been able to sit on the furniture, so maybe, just maybe it might work. I hurried to the edge of the rug and grasped the corners. Quick or slow? If it didn’t work, then it wouldn’t matter. Quick then. Drawing in a breath of her scent, how could I still smell her but not touch her? I wrenched the carpet outside, running backward on my haunches. The rug and Isabel followed me outside. I let out a sigh of relief and triumph before racing to her side.

Her wounds still oozed blood. I slapped my hands over the wounds on one arm, to slow the bleeding but that left the other arm gushing like a tap. This was useless. I pushed up from the bloody rug and ran inside the castle. Bandages. Rags. Anything I could tear into strips. The first thing I saw was a thick curtain. That would do. Trying not to think about how much they probably cost, I yanked the curtain. The rod tumbled tothe floor and tore down the entire set of curtains. I only needed one, so I bundled a length into my arms and ran back outside.

As I kneeled beside Isabel, the rug squelched. I quickly ripped the thick fabric into strips using my claws, the first time they came in handy for anything, and bandaged her arms. When I’d finished, I sat back on the ground and watched the material for signs the blood was seeping through.

Time passed. Not that I had any way of knowing. The moon and stars didn’t reposition. I didn’t have a watch or clock to tell me the time, but I sensed time was moving while we were stuck here. Isabel’s wounds didn’t bleed through the makeshift bandages so I assumed the bleeding had stopped. She lay motionless though. Her eyes were still closed. Her face was still pale with a blueish tint.

How long could I wait to see if she woke? Should I change the bandages and risk her bleeding again? Should I leave her alone outside so I can search the castle for first aid supplies? What would heal a vampire, anyway? I’d only read the books about werewolves and the laws. My gaze lifted to the castle. Books. There were books on vampires inside the library. Perhaps if I read them, then I’d find a way to heal her.

I touched a dried blood-covered hand to her cool cheek. She didn’t flinch from my touch. I suspected if she was conscious that would be another matter. Turning from the heartbreaking sight of the beautiful woman covered in blood. I strode into the castle. The door hadn’t closed once while we sat outside. It stood open as though begging me to enter. I glanced back at Isabel. She’d be all right there for a few moments. I’d hear if anything approached her.

Like you did in the labyrinth?My inner critic asked.

True, I hadn’t heard the plants attacking her, but I’d heard them moving. I’d heard her tiny gasp of pain. The drip of her blood. Werewolf hearing was phenomenal, but I’d been too overcome with a beastly lust to acknowledge what happened. I paused at the bottom of the stairs. Where would I find real bandages? A bathroom.

I walked along the hallway, avoiding the ballroom, I turned the doorknobs to the other doors until I found a bathroom. I rummaged through the drawers of the cabinet but came up empty-handed. My blood-covered hands slammed the drawers shut. Turning on the taps I scrubbed the blood from my hands and puffed out a breath. It was worth a try. I gave up the search and ran up the stairs to the library, collected the books on vampires, and hurried back outside. Isabel lay where I’d left her. As I settled beside her, I opened the book. What secrets would I find about vampires?

Chapter eleven

Isabel

Iheard everything. My eyelids refused to open. I was in a state of stasis. A state vampires reverted to when they almost bled dry from wounds. We could remain in this state for eternity, but we were vulnerable. Easy to kill. If Dante had been any other werewolf, he would have ripped my heart out of my body by now. A sure way to kill a vampire, but he probably didn’t even comprehend how to kill a vampire.

He comprehended nothing about himself as a werewolf.

The sound of pages turning was sharp to my ears. A sound I remembered whollysince I loved reading and since I’d been in this cursed state, I couldn’t even touch a book. I longed to hold the weight of a hardcover in my hands. Sniff the aroma of paper and the magic of words. Devour the writing with my eyes.

How I longed for so much since Silas cursed me to this place.

Now, even if Dante’s brother returned with Silas and a way out of this curse, then I’d be in stasis. I wouldn’t be able to kill Silas. How I longed to remove the stain of his evil from my life and this world.

There was only one way for Dante to revive me.

Blood.

Chapter twelve

Dante

The first book held nothing of importance about how to heal a vampire. If anything, I’d say it was a rouse of a book, one to throw people off what harmed vampires and cured them. It had the usual myths. Vampires didn’t go out in the sunlight.

I couldn’t test that theory since we were stuck in perpetual night.

The reason cited was an extreme sensitivity that would lead to death if a vampire stayed in the sunlight too long. Was it true? Or had the person simply written it to settle human fears about vampires notstalking them during the day?

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