Free The Return by Nicole R. Taylor Page B

Knowles." He forced a smile.
    "Man, you look strung out," she laughed. "I can see nothing's changed with you."
    "I'm a hard case, you know that," he shook his head. "How did you find me?"
    "When word reached me of the bloody demise of a werewolf pack down in Louisiana, I had to come and see for myself. And lo and behold," she gestured to him. 
    Zac snorted, turning away.
    "I have been thinking about you a lot lately," she said, standing beside him. "Wondering how you were doing."
    "I was doing fine."
    "Was?" she cocked her head to the side. "Does it have anything to do with that huge old rock you're staring at?"
    He grimaced, looking back towards the cave, "Yeah."
    When he didn't continue, Morgan nudged him with an elbow. "And?"
    "It's a long story."
    "Then give me the Reader's Digest version."
    Zac ran a hand over his face and shrugged, "I killed Victoria here. And Aya is buried in the cave."
    "Who's Aya?" Morgan asked, her brow furrowing.
    "The love of my pathetic afterlife," he snorted.
    She sighed, turning her face away for a moment. When she looked at him again, she smiled wryly, "So, this is where you killed the psycho bitch that turned you?"
    "Ironic, huh?"
    "An unfortunate association," she shook her head.
    Zac sighed, his head dipping. "I was going to die this morning."
    "What do you mean?" Morgan grabbed his arm, turning him around to face her.
    "I don't think I was really going to do it," he shrugged, looking at her, his expression empty. "Not really."
    "You were going to kill yourself?" She was horrified and rightly so.
    "I thought about it."
    She raised her hand, running a thumb across his cheek, brushing away a tear that had escaped from the corner of his eye. "You must have loved her very much," she whispered.
    "I do," he held her hand against his face, closing his eyes. "That's the problem."
    "Come," Morgan coxed him to sit beside her.
    "I-We're in a lot of trouble," he grimaced as he sat heavily beside her. "If you're going to stick around, you might be pulled into it whether you want to or not."
    "So be it."
    "Just warning you."
    "Wait, we're in a lot of trouble? Who else is here?"
    "My brother and some friends."
    "Your brother, Sam?"
    "Yes." He had told her a lot about Sam back when they had first met. But, he had never told anyone about Morgan. At the time, she was a part of his life that needed to stay buried.
    "Does he know what you went through during the war?" she asked carefully.
    "No, and I want it to stay that way. He trusted me, Morgan. If he knew how bad it really was it would tear him up. I've put him through enough lately without dragging up old shit. I never told him about you and I."
    "Well, you know I've got your back," she placed an arm across his back. "What's been going on? Can I help?"
    "Morgan," he rubbed his eyes. "It's bad. I can't ask you to help us."
    "Out with it, Degaud."
    He couldn't help but smile at her forceful use of his surname; it reminded him of the war, the army. She'd been a breath of fresh air, right when he needed it. But, she couldn't know all of it. He wouldn't tell her all of it. The less she knew, the better. "A few months ago, I got into a fight with an old vampire."
    "How old?"
    "Five hundred at least," he shrugged. "I killed him, but somehow caught the attention of a very old and powerful witch. She was plotting to kill me and we had no idea how to stop her, so we found a vampire that was willing to help us. One that was hunted by the same witch." 
    "Who was the vampire?" Morgan asked, when he paused.
    "Aya."
    "Oh," she said, her arm dropping away.
    "She helped us above and beyond what was asked of her. She helped me," he looked away, knowing that Morgan would get it. "The thing she didn't tell us right away was that she was mixed up with the founding vampires."
    "The first vampires?" she said, a note of hesitation in her voice.
    "Yeah. Two thousand year old assholes," he scuffed his boot into the dirt, shaking his head. "She helped us take out the witch and one