The Wolf Prince

CHAPTER 20

“You’re a prince,” Darcy whispered. “Do you know what that means?”

Surlock shook his head.

Her face suddenly turned pale. “Oh, good Lord, I clobbered a prince over the head and caused him to have amnesia. Is that treason? I don’t think so, but I’m pretty sure there’s a law against it.”

Her pout was too tempting. Surlock leaned over and captured her bottom lip with his teeth, tugging gently, then he began to kiss her. She sighed, leaning in closer, her arms going around his neck.

When he ended the kiss, he saw her eyes were glazed with passion. She blinked several times until they cleared, then quickly moved away from him.

“You make me forget everything,” she complained.

He grinned. “Good.”

“No, it’s not good. If you really are a prince, then we need to find your … your …”

“My kingdom?” he supplied.

Her eyes narrowed. “This is not funny.”

“Was I laughing?”

“I think you were. If you want to keep your vow of celibacy, then you’re going to have to keep your distance.”

“I apologize.” He didn’t think she believed him. But she was right. It would be difficult to keep his hands to himself.

“I’m surprised it hasn’t been on the news or in the papers.” She drew in a sharp breath. “Maybe you were kidnapped and they’re waiting for a ransom.” Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. “You had probably gotten away, stripped of everything, including your clothes, and then I battered you over the head.”

He had a feeling she was about to apologize again so he quickly took her hands in his. “We don’t know I’m a prince. I recognized a building. That was all.”

“Castle.” She sniffed. “It’s a castle.”

He looked at the picture. Castle? It sounded familiar. Again, he saw the room with the two men.

“What do you see?” Darcy whispered.

“Two men. I think they’re my brothers. A jaguar with a glittery necklace around its neck.”

“A jaguar? Like the cat?”

He heard the confusion in her voice. That was okay, he was confused, too.

“One of the men is rubbing the cat behind the ear. There’s a fog.” He shook his head. “I can’t see anything. Wait, it’s starting to clear.” He blinked several times.

“What?” Darcy asked.

“A naked woman. The jaguar is gone.” He watched as another woman brought a robe and held it out to the naked woman. She slipped her arms inside the sleeves and belted it at her waist. The vision slipped back into the shrouds of his mind. He blinked. “I think the woman was my sister.”

“What happened to the jaguar?”

He drew in a deep, ragged breath. “I think they were one and the same.”

Her forehead wrinkled. “Huh?”

“They both wore the same necklace. I think my sister was the jaguar, then she changed into the woman.”

She shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“I know, but it might explain who I am.” The humming in his ears was back. He closed his eyes tight against the noise.

“Are you okay?” Worry laced her words.

“The humming. It’s back.”

“I’ll get your eardrops.”

He opened his eyes and blinked several times until the noise eased. “No, it’s not as bad as it was the last time. I think it’s beginning to go away.”

She sighed with relief. “We’re still back at square one, though.”

“But maybe the visions are showing me who I am.”

She pushed out of the chair and began to pace. “It doesn’t explain anything. It only makes things more confusing. That would mean you’re some kind of shape-shifter. They don’t exist. No more than a werewolf exists.” She stopped walking back and forth across the room. “I put these thoughts in your head. I should never have made you watch that stupid werewolf movie. I’m sorry. I watch too many horror movies.”

“But it looked real, and it seemed familiar.” He felt as though he was losing his mind.

She knelt in front of him and took his hands. “It’ll be okay. You probably do have brothers and sisters, but your memories are a little confused right now. That’s all. Maybe there was a little statue of a jaguar that you liked and it got mixed up in your memory banks.”

“You might be right.”

“I know I am.” She smiled. “There are no such things as vampires, or werewolves.” She laughed. “Or aliens or things that go bump in the night. But there is one thing we know.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re starting to remember things. Maybe you’re not a prince. You could be a pauper, but none of that really matters. I like who you are right now.”

The phone rang. Rather than waiting for someone else to answer it, Darcy reached over and picked it up. “Spencer residence.”

“This is Dr. Wilson calling for Darcy.”

“This is Darcy.” Her heart pounded inside her chest.

“We have the blood work back, but I’m afraid there’s a problem.”

Darcy looked at Surlock. He watched her intently. She tried to keep her voice calm, even though that was the last thing she was feeling. She was almost afraid to ask what was wrong. What if she’d caused Surlock to have a slow bleed or something? Dammit, she had to know—good or bad.

“What… uh … exactly is the problem?” She smiled at Surlock reassuringly while she felt her insides tighten into knots.

“Oh, nothing to do with Surlock. The lab made an error and I will be filing a complaint with them, and the x-ray company.”

“Exactly what was the error?”

“They screwed up the results with a vet or something. The blood work came back abnormal. There apparently weren’t any of the antibodies that humans have.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Ah, yes, let me see if I can explain in layman terms. We, as humans, have natural antibodies. These antibodies recognize and attack foreign invaders, which is why you have to type and cross match blood. If you give a human the wrong type blood, it could kill the patient.”

“And the lab results didn’t have these natural antibodies. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“It might be if he ever needs a blood transfusion, except the tests are wrong. Unless he’s a canine.” Dr. Wilson chuckled.

“Huh?”

“Simply put, dogs don’t have these natural antibodies.”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Dogs, you say.”

“Which is why I’m irritated at the results. Shoddy work. It’s nothing like the old days when people took pride in their jobs. We’ll have to repeat the tests, of course. I’m leaving on vacation tomorrow, but you can bring Surlock in any time.”

Everything was slowly sinking into her brain. The X-rays were wrong because there were two types of bone structure, the blood work was incorrect because the results were those of a canine. She closed her eyes for a moment. Or wolf. The howling in the woods. Thinking she was looking into the eyes of a wolf.

“You still there, girl?”

“Yes,” she squeaked, then cleared her throat. “That will be fine. I’ll get him down to the office.”

“Good. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“No, that’s okay. These things happen.”

“How’s the boy feeling? Any more humming in his ears?”

“He’s better. Remembering more every day, and the humming is getting better, too.”

“Good. I told him that his memories would come back.”

Darcy didn’t mention that Surlock’s memories were a little crazy. She didn’t want to take the chance Dr. Wilson would commit him, because they might commit her as well. “Have a good vacation,” she said instead, and replaced the phone in the cradle.

“That was the doctor,” Surlock said rather than asked.

She faced him with a bright smile on her face. “Yes. There was a mix-up with your blood work and he only wants to repeat it.”

“What kind of mix-up?”

She shrugged. “Stuff like this happens all the time. Nothing at all to worry about.”

He watched her, but rather than pressing the issue, he nodded. She let out a deep breath. He was not a monster. This was all a coincidence. The idea that he could be a werewolf was so crazy, she didn’t want to think about it.

She sat in her chair in front of the computer again and continued her search on the Internet. Surlock didn’t say anything, but she could feel him close to her. She was not going to mention what kind of error the doctor had found. That was all it was, just an error. People made them all the time. It was ludicrous to think he could change into—what? A wolf? Or worse—a werewolf. And if he could, what did that make her?

An hour later, she pushed away from the computer. Nothing. Not a blasted thing. There was no Prince Surlock, no New Symtaria. Nothing whatsoever. She’d hit another dead end.

“I guess I’m not much of an investigator,” she said, turning in her seat until they faced each other.

He pulled her onto his lap before she could think to protest. Once she was there, she didn’t want to leave. It felt too good having him hold her close. It wasn’t as if they were going to mate. She frowned. Make love.

“I think you’re a very good investigator.”

“I haven’t found out anything.”

“I wouldn’t say that. I could be a secret agent, or a werewolf, or I could be a prince.”

Oh, great, now she felt a whole lot better. Everything she had come up with sounded totally ridiculous. No wonder her mom didn’t want Darcy to get a job—she knew she couldn’t cut it in the real world.

“What are you thinking?” Surlock brushed his lips across the top of her head.

A shiver of need spread through her. “That I suck at the only job I’ve ever had.” She felt the rumble of his chest. Oh, yeah, now she felt a whole lot better.

“I’m not laughing at you,” he finally said.

“Of course not. You’re laughing with me. Uh, I hate to tell you this, but in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not laughing at all.”

“Why does it have to be so complicated?” he asked. “Going to the party was a great idea. Someone is bound to know me. You did say Peter always has a large number of people there, right?”

She’d forgotten about the party for a moment. So maybe everything wasn’t a hopeless cause.

“We’ll need to get you a costume,” she said. “What do you want to go as?”

“How about a wolf?”

Was he laughing again?