Crazed Hearts Read online

  HE’S NO FAIRY-TALE PRINCE. BUT HE JUST MAY BE THE HERO SHE NEEDS.

  Grimm’s Circle, Book 3

  Ren has always danced along the fine line between being a little bit crazy and being overcome by a darkness that’s haunted him since his mortal days. As an empath, he prefers to live far from people who would leak their emotions all over him, so he’s not expecting the woman who drives right into the heart of his wood. She has a cursed book with her and demons hot on her heels. Even more surprising are her abilities and the reaction Ren has to her.

  Aileas is on the run. She just isn’t certain if she’s running from something real or imagined. One thing is for sure, her brother is dead and she’s certain the book she found has something to do with his death. She really starts to doubt her sanity when she meets a hot but somewhat crazed man in the middle of nowhere.

  He calls himself Ren, and although he doesn’t seem to be out to hurt her, he definitely seems to want something. She just doesn’t understand what. She does know what she wants though. She wants him, and the shadows and darkness she glimpses inside him don’t matter. At least, right up until he claims to be a guardian angel.

  And she thought she was going crazy.

  Warning: this title contains soul-sucking demons, kick-ass angels and a hero who is a little crazy and a whole lot sexy.

  COPYRIGHT

  Crazed Hearts Copyright © 2010 by Shiloh Walker

  Reissued 2017

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people.

  DEDICATION

  As always, for my husband and my kids. I love you all more than life itself.

  And for Heidi, who likes a slightly crazy bad boy with a sense of humor.

  PROLOGUE

  “He isn’t ready,” Will murmured.

  Although he knew he must be wrong.

  It seemed these things would play out as they were meant to play out, and nothing he did or said would change things.

  But part of him, much as he hated to admit it, worried for Ren.

  Though it had been decades since his change into a Grimm, the effects of the tortures Ren had endured had yet to completely fade. The losses. The grief. The choices he’d had to make.

  They had failed Ren. The Grimms were supposed to protect the innocent, and what had he been when such atrocities had been visited upon him? An innocent, just a child. He’d seen too much and it had damn near shattered his already fragile grip on reality.

  They’d failed Ren.

  He had failed Ren.

  Bringing him into the fold, it should have eased that pain, but Ren kept people at bay, allowing so few close. He didn’t allow the bonds of friendship to form and, save for Elle, Ren let nobody close.

  And now Elle was lost to him.

  He had spent too much of his life suffering and that suffering had left scars.

  Could he truly heal from those scars?

  Mortals say time heals all wounds, but what do they know? They live but a moment and so many took their wounds to their graves.

  Ren had lived more than a century. Will had seen civilizations rise and fall.

  And both of them had yet to heal.

  Feeling the press on his mind, his heart, Will sighed.

  “Very well.”

  There was one thing he could take comfort in…shallow though it was.

  It was not Mandy that Ren would turn to in the night.

  And what sort of selfish bastard did that make him?

  An unworthy one. That much was clear.

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Now, Beatrix, I told you a thousand times, if I told you once. If you keep it up, sooner or later Susannah is going to take a piece out of your tail,” Ren said, smiling a little to himself.

  Behind him, he heard the outraged females snarling and sniping. But he didn’t turn around. They hadn’t attacked, hadn’t drawn blood. If they went that far, he’d intervene. If not… Well, he couldn’t always play referee with his lovelies, now could he?

  Bo nuzzled his neck and he turned his head and smiled. “Don’t look so pleased with yourself, precious.” Ren smirked. “They’ll come after you next.”

  Bo gave a slow, lazy blink, looking unconcerned.

  Little concerned Bo though. It wasn’t much of a surprise.

  There was a hiss behind him, followed by a sound of pain.

  It echoed through Ren and he swore, grabbing a towel from the counter and drying his hands as he turned around.

  The two stray cats he’d taken in off the street were on the floor and Susannah had managed to draw blood from the larger Beatrix. Yes, Beatrix was the older feline, larger and stronger, but Susannah was a scrapper.

  He scooped Beatrix up off the floor and sighed as he studied her ear. Bo hooted in Ren’s ear and the sound was suspiciously like a laugh. “I’m warning you, you shouldn’t look so pleased with yourself,” Ren advised again. “Otherwise Susannah might decide to rob you of a tail feather or two.”

  “Do they really understand you?”

  Ren glanced over his shoulder and grinned at his young apprentice. Her name was Mandy. Sooner or later, she’d have to make the choice—become a Grimm. Or not. He wasn’t looking forward to it, because for her to make that choice, it would mean she was destined for a young death.

  Like he had been.

  He didn’t like the idea of it.

  She was a nice kid, and he’d seen too many people die young. Even though she would have the chance to come back…

  “Hey.”

  Shaking his head, he focused his mind back on Mandy. She’d said something. Oh, yes. Yes, that was it.

  “Understand the words? Well, certainly some of them do. Many animals are rather intelligent, you know. But even those that don’t understand the words, they understand my intent.” He reached up and stroked Bo’s crest. “Like Bo might not understand my words, but knows he knows if he keeps after Susannah, she’ll come take a feather or two from him.”

  “And my lovelies…well, I think they understand me quite well.”

  Beatrix yowled, her voice plaintive and angry.

  Susannah wound herself around his ankles, purring and shooting him hopeful glances.

  “Look at her,” Mandy said, laughing. “She looks pretty damned pleased with herself.”

  “Hmm. She is.” Ren studied the calico at his feet and sighed. “Mean little bitch.”

  “Well, to be fair, Beatrix started it.”

  “Yes, but Susannah eggs her on. I’ve seen it happen too often to believe she’s entirely innocent.” The little calico sat down and stared at Ren, a heartbroken expression on her face. She gave him a plaintive meow.

  He just laughed. “Yes, my darling drama queen. I see you.” Scratching Beatrix under the neck, he carried her to the sink and studied her mangled ear.

  Mandy watched from behind with more than a little fascination. “Man, if I’d ever tried to do that to any of my cats, they would have torn the skin clean off my hands,” she murmured, watching as he deftly cleaned the cat’s injuries.

  Ren didn’t respond. He was too busy focusing on keeping Beatrix calm.

  He’d always had an affinity for other thinking creatures…animal and human. His family hadn’t seen it as an affinity though. They had loved him, but his gift had frightened them something awful. Terrified them.

  But then, it had terrified him as well. There had been a number of times when he had tried to kill himself over the so-called gift. It wasn’t until years later that he finally accepted this strange part of himself.

  After he’d become a Grimm, that affinity had become something…more. Perhaps many of the animals didn’t understand his words, but he could understand them. He felt their pains and he could ease them as well.

  In return, they provided him with companionship. Without them he would have lost himself to the darkness of his mind ages ago.

  “Easy,” he murmured as Beatrix’s pain had her struggling against the gentle hold he had on her mind. “You’re fine now, sweet.”

  And then he was done.

  When he released the hold he had on the feline, she deigned to let him pet her and then she focused her eyes on Susannah.

  Ren sighed.

  These two.

  “Betcha it makes you feel like you’re raising kids,” Mandy drawled. “Did your folks have to get after you like that? Or do you even remember?”

  He lifted a brow at her. “Being the doddering, ancient creature I am, you mean?”

  She grinned at him unrepentantly and pushed her hair back. Today it was black with royal blue extensions woven through it. She changed the colors almost as often as she changed her clothes.

  “Seeing as how you were around when Moses walked the earth, yeah.” She settled down on one of the stools and leaned back against the cabinet. Her cropped top rode up, revealing the toned, smooth flesh of her belly. A few months ago, she’d been a bit rounder, nicely curved, Ren had thought.

  But he’d put her through several hella
cious months of training and those nice curves had melted away. The curves were still there, just not as lush. She was still human though, thus too vulnerable. She didn’t have the luxury of a body that would heal all wounds or the added strength. She’d been placed in his hands so he could toughen her up, and he’d done just that.

  And she’d repaid his care by driving him utterly mad, taunting him, teasing him and saying… What was that again? Around when Moses had walked the earth.

  Ren snorted. “Moses, eh? Not quite, my dear. You’re off by a few thousand years.”

  With a winsome smile on her face, she asked, “Oh, so you’re older than Moses? Who came before him? Noah? Methuselah?”

  Shaking his head, he turned away. He knew what she was doing. It was her way of trying to find out who he was. But really, why did she need to know that? “We’re running five miles today,” he said.

  She groaned.

  “Although I’ve heard the weather is going to be nice. We might try for six.”

  He chuckled when she started to beat her head against the wooden counter.

  It was one way to distract her, he had learned.

  Chocolate was another.

  But he’d let her have the chocolate after she finished her run.

  Motivation. It was all about motivation.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Don’t stop. If you stop, you’ll die.

  It was one hell of a motivator, she had to admit.

  The skin along the back of her neck crawled and the hair there stood on edge. Aileas Corbett knew she was being followed. She’d been followed for weeks, ever since she’d buried her brother. Ever since she’d found that damn book…

  She’d tried to ignore it at first. Tried to write it off as grief, exhaustion. Tried to go about her job, her life. Tried to ignore the shadows she saw at night and the weird whispers that echoed through the solitary apartment.

  But she couldn’t ignore it anymore.

  Not after—

  No.

  She couldn’t think about that right now.

  Swallowing, she glanced at the damned thing wrapped in a blanket, lying in the back seat.

  Damned.

  A shiver raced down her spine. It was damned.

  She’d swear she heard it whispering to her.

  She hadn’t slept a night through since she’d found the damn thing and that had been nearly three weeks earlier.

  “You’re going crazy,” she whispered, reaching up to toy with the strand of pearls she wore around her neck. “That’s all there is to it—you’re going crazy.”

  That was the most likely explanation too.

  A psychotic break brought on by grief, lack of sleep and who knows what else. A shrink would have a field day with her.

  Assuming she actually stopped running to talk with one.

  But she wouldn’t stop running. Not until she figured out what to do. And she couldn’t figure out what to do until she had this book someplace where it couldn’t hurt anybody.

  She pressed the heel of her hand against her temple and muttered, “I sound insane. It’s a fucking book. It can’t hurt anybody.”

  It could though. In her gut, she knew it. And the thought terrified her, left her so frightened, so afraid.

  You don’t need to be afraid, the book whispered to her. Open me. Use me. I shall make you strong. I shall make you immortal…immortal. You could avenge the death of your brother.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she muttered. Reaching out, she turned on the radio, but the only thing that came through was static, static and more static. Sighing, she grabbed her iPod and one of the earbuds. So it wasn’t exactly safe. But it wasn’t like she was running into a lot of traffic driving through these woods on the way to the cabin her parents had left to her and her brother.

  Just her now though… A sob rose in her throat, tried to break free.

  She swallowed it down. Crying right now? On these roads? A quick, certain way to get herself killed. The cabin, tucked away in a remote part of Wisconsin’s North Woods, wasn’t exactly in the most easily accessible area, and if she wanted to keep the car on the road, she didn’t have time to cry.

  Of course, if she wanted to be smart, the last thing she needed to be doing right now was driving someplace so isolated when she knew she was being followed.

  The fear tried to press in. Overwhelm.

  But before it could, without her even understanding why, there was a warm touch on her mind, on her heart, her soul.

  “Everything will be fine,” she murmured. “I just need to keep going to the cabin.”

  That warm touch spread, became a sense of peace, pushing out the dark, uneasy, edgy feeling. A sense that managed to last right up until the time a big black dog—practically the size of a pony—darted out in front of the car.

  With a half-scream, Aileas slammed on the brakes.

  Ren heard her scream, but he was more concerned with Pan.

  “Damn dog,” he muttered. Glancing at Mandy, he said, “Stay up here.”

  Bent over, her hands braced on her knees, she glared at him from under her lashes.

  “Aye-aye, Cap-i-tan,” she mocked between breaths.

  “Smart arse.”

  He jogged down the incline.

  There was a woman down there. Ren had had about two seconds to notice the fact that she was female, and the fact that she was far too close to Pan. The wolf/dog breed wasn’t an aggressive animal, but she was a stranger and Pan considered this his territory.

  Ren sighed.

  He leaped down, covering the twenty foot incline in a silent, single jump. She was being careful, he had to admire that, not trying to approach Pan, talking to the dog in a calm, quiet voice.

  “Sit, Pan,” Ren said.

  The woman went rigid.

  Pan growled.

  Ren narrowed his eyes and reached out, silently repeating the order with a mental command that no animal could resist. The dog obeyed, lowering his hindquarters to the ground, still staring at the woman with suspicious eyes.

  He was tempted to do the same with the woman, but he hadn’t tried to impress a command on a mortal in decades, more than a century to be exact. He wasn’t about to do it now.

  “He won’t attack,” Ren said, keeping his voice light, crisp. “You best get in your car, run along.”

  She turned around and studied him, her eyes narrowing. “Run along?” she repeated.

  Her tone was offended.

  Her eyes were dark brown, shot through with slivers of pale gold.

  Around her long, slim neck, she wore a strand of pearls. He wanted to see her wearing nothing but those pearls.

  Her mouth was quite possibly the softest he’d ever seen.

  When he looked at her, Ren was certain the very earth beneath his feet shifted. He wanted to stare into those eyes for a very long time. Then he wanted to cradle that face in his hands and take his time as he kissed that mouth and learned it, explored it…

  He sucked in a breath as the punch of hunger hit him hard and fast. Hunger, need, something too intense for him to describe.

  Her eyes widened as she stared at him and he saw something…was it an echo of what he felt? There was something in her eyes. He sensed it dancing just beyond the shields he didn’t dare lower.

  He couldn’t risk that.

  He didn’t need to lower them to see some things though. Like the way her pulse was pounding against the fragile skin in her neck. The way her nipples hardened, pressing against the thin worn flannel of the shirt she wore.

  Slowly, he breathed in through his nose, wondering what she’d smell like.

  And that was when he realized something else.

  Something rather pressing. It cleared the fire in his blood, the fog in his mind all too quickly.

  She had the stink of death, destruction and demon hanging in the air around her.

  Around her.

  But… He closed his eyes, dragged the air in, tasted it, rolled it around on his tongue… The smell was not on her, but it was damn close.

  She hadn’t been tainted…yet. But there was something very, very wrong. And it was close. Far too bloody close and on his land too.

  Ren’s gut clenched and he had to do it—had to risk it. Bracing himself, he lowered his mental shields. He was prepared to feel an onslaught…from her. And while he felt something, it wasn’t the sheer rush of madness he’d been expecting. Pushing past that, he reached farther—a mental net, casting it far and wide.