We tried that for a while, moving about twenty yards in twenty minutes. “You might try bigger arm movements,” I suggested eventually.
His resulting efforts nearly capsized us both.
So, we’d doggy paddle around the lake. It wasn’t so bad, really, not after I got over the loss of feeling in my extremities. Although, strangely, my body warmed the more I focused on Ryder. As if his gasped jokes impacted the temperature of the frigid water.
The sun had risen above the trees by the time Ryder panted out an observation. “Professional thief, huh?”
“Alpha backstabber,” I countered. “If you’re tired, you could roll onto your back.”
Ryder tried it, swallowing about a gallon of lake water in the process. He swore as he spat, and I angled myself closer in case he needed assistance.
But he bobbed back to the surface before I’d fully decided he was drowning. “Hey, it works!” He sounded childishly proud of learning to float.
And...I was proud to have taught him. The sun was warmer now and my tongue only hurt a little after endless biting to prevent myself from ribbing the sensitive masculine ego. I smiled and swiveled to take in the landscape—beautiful from this level—then jolted as I caught sight of the populated shore.
Not that this area shouldn’t be populated. We were halfway around the lake now, level with a public dock. In addition to boat-mooring stations, there was a cafe present with small round tables out front.
So, yeah, multiple people milled about, eating and visiting. Only one of them, however, caught my eye.
“What is it?” Ryder was more alert than I’d thought he was. His gaze followed mine. “Huh. That was fast.”
What was fast about Marina showing up only a mile away from our campground was beyond me. Ominous was the adjective I would have chosen instead.
Because she wasn’t there by chance. Of course she wasn’t. Marina shaded her eyes with one hand, her gaze latching onto mine despite the distance. Then she beckoned me with one crooked finger.
“I’ve got to...” I waved my arm vaguely in Marina’s direction. “Can you swim the rest of the way by yourself?”
I hated leaving him. Wasn’t so sure he’d make it. But finding a way to sever my connection to Marina gracefully was important for the sake of Harper’s safety. The memory of the horse and the honeysuckle niggled like fleas.
“Hey, I’m good.” Ryder’s heavy hand hit my shoulder, nearly submerging me. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
He treaded water and leered, more like himself than he’d been since setting foot in the water. A relief to my overprotective instincts, even though his admonition was nonsensical.
“If you get in trouble, yell,” I added, not quite willing to let him go. “I’ll hear you.”
But Ryder was already swimming away from me, continuing his journey back to our campground. His splashing was louder than it should have been, but it was also rhythmic and unflustered.
Marina’s foot, I noted, was tapping ten times faster than Ryder’s arm strokes.
She didn’t like to be kept waiting. And I was trying to stay on her good side.
I turned away from my team mate and toward my sister’s teacher. Ryder would have to take care of himself.
Chapter 22
Marina peered down at me from the dock I clung to. “You stink of swamp muck.”
“Well, hello to you too.” I heaved myself up onto the wooden structure. And, okay, so maybe I didn’t try very hard to keep residual lake water from splashing her. Maybe I enjoyed the way she skittered backwards like a cat unamused by drips from a watering can.
I wasn’t just being spiteful, however. While Marina’s equanimity was shaken, I demanded: “How’d you track me down?”
Because she shouldn’t have been able to find me. And I didn’t like the fact that Harper—who considered this woman a trusted teacher—was no more than a mile or two away.
Marina merely shrugged. “Secrets are a woman’s prerogative.” She dropped a towel at my feet. “Dry off. Meet me at the cafe.”
“This isn’t a social visit,” I called after her. But she was already sliding through the crowd, leaving me alone to drip and fume.
I could either obey or dive back into the lake and catch up with Ryder, who seemed to be plowing through the water with renewed ferocity. Shrugging, I picked up the towel. Removed the swamp muck—what little there was of it—and followed the trace of lemon-meringue-pie aroma that Marina had left behind.
She didn’t remark upon the way I squelched when I took my seat, towel too thin to fully dry me. Instead, she gestured with her chin toward the two jumbo muffins on the table between us. “Take your pick.”
I could taste the sugar just looking at them. Two beautiful baked goods, tops shiny with sweetness. I hadn’t managed to find breakfast before meeting up with Lupe this morning. No wonder my stomach responded to the sight of my favorite flavor—blueberry—with an adamant growl.
On the other hand...hadn’t I read in a fairy tale—once upon a time—about the dangers of eating fae foodstuff?
No, that was Persephone, consuming pomegranate seeds in the underworld. Still, I chose the cranberry muffin—my least favorite flavor—and picked at the wrapper rather than stuffing any pastry into my mouth.
Only then did I return to the point. “You didn’t show up last night.”
Marina leaned in closer, her scent sticking to the insides of my throat as I inhaled. “And you don’t care much about your sister, do you?”
“MY SISTER?” I LEANED in closer. Threats would come next, and I’d find a way to defuse them for Harper’s sake....
Only, Marina didn’t threaten. Instead, she delved into Harper’s obvious weakness. “The child craves friendship. The only choices you’ve given her to sate that craving are within a werewolf vigilante squad.”
“They’re not....” I cut myself off, shaking my head to clear it. This was about Harper, not Tank and Ryder and Butch and Lupe.
Marina’s voice was smug as she continued to focus on my sister. “I could help Harper build more appropriate social connections. Boost her self-esteem. Enhance her charisma. Her life could be easier than yours has been.”
If Marina’s goal was to knock me off balance, she’d succeeded. Were there really shortcuts that would make my sister’s future rosy?
Didn’t matter. “Harper’s learning to make friends the hard way.” Or at least I hoped she was. I hoped Harper wasn’t just going along with whatever Clara and Kira wanted, desperate to be part of the human equivalent of a pack.
Marina shook her head slightly. Not a negation. More a sign of pity. “The fae can solve thorny problems with the snap of a finger.”
“The fae?” Suddenly, Harper wasn’t the only thing I cared about. If Marina was admitting what I thought she was admitting, then there was more at stake here than I’d thought. “You are one?”
My companion snorted very delicately. “Fae don’t arrive until Samhain. I thought the old she-wolf would have told you that.”
Lupe wasn’t old. She might have passed forty, but she was at the peak of her fitness, both physically and mentally. I barely prevented myself from bristling while speaking just as plainly as Marina had done. “So you’re a Sleeper,” I suggested, referring to the human allies of the fae that Lupe had mentioned during our first meeting.
“Something like that.” Marina picked up her paper cup and sipped at the steaming liquid. I noticed she hadn’t offered me a beverage, even though something warm would have been much appreciated right about then. Perhaps safer, too, than solid food?
“Then we’re enemies.”
“Are we?” Marina’s pause did just what she’d intended it to—it reminded me that I was a lone wolf. Out for no one except myself and my sister. “The way I see it,” she continued after a long moment, “we each have something the other wants.”
I shook my head, letting the towel slip loose from where I’d wrapped it around my torso. I wasn’t he
re to do anything other than dredge up a promise of safety for my sister.
To that end, I let my wolf speak through me. “I want you out of Harper’s life.”
“Done.”
That was too easy. Still, I found myself settling back down at the table. “Done?”
Marina blew on her beverage and took another sip before replying. “If you don’t care about friendship for your sister, perhaps you’d prefer a gift for the big male you’re so attached to. His face...is unfortunate. That, however, can be fixed.”
I should have left already. I had what I’d come for. Still...my entire torso bent forward. As if Marina was a tornado sucking me into her vortex.
My words, however, remained level. “With cosmetic surgery. If he wanted that, he would have done it already.”
“Not cosmetic surgery. Magic.” Marina wiggled her fingers and flower petals slid out of the air to fall onto the grungy plastic tabletop.
Everything else Marina had done could be explained away as slight of hand. But not this. The petals had come out of nowhere.
Magic. Marina really was affiliated with the fae.
AND SOMETHING CLICKED inside me. A pack bond? Not likely. But Lupe had helped me. Tank had helped me. Even Butch and Ryder, each in their own way, had helped me.
Now I had the opportunity to return the favor. I had an in with a Sleeper. Perhaps, rather than severing this connection, I should maintain it for the greater good.
“Just think what his life would be like if his outsides were as pretty as his insides,” Marina continued.
I shook my head. I might be willing to nurture Marina’s interest so I could keep tabs on her, but I wasn’t throwing anyone I cared about under the bus. Instead, I offered up myself as sacrifice, broaching the problem I hadn’t thought Marina could fix...until I saw flower petals flutter through the air.
“What I need is for the local alpha to stop hassling me.”
“The local alpha.” Her lips curled up. “What a coincidence.”
That didn’t sound good. I wavered, pushing back my chair with a screech against the concrete...and Marina reeled me right back in.
“It would be a simple matter to increase your wolf’s dominance,” she murmured. “If you were as powerful as the alpha hounding you, he’d have no alternative other than to let you be.”
I used the table to draw myself closer. This was supposed to be a ploy...yet I was interested. “You can do that?”
“The fae can. They would offer a boon if you do us a small favor.”
Favor. The word was so minor. Innocuous really.
“My sister has no part in this,” I reminded her. “And I’m not double-crossing my team.”
“Are they a team?” The perfect eyebrow raised again. “Never mind. No, I won’t ask you to double-cross your team. And your sister will not be impacted by my actions.”
“What then?” Nervous energy had me picking up a crumb of muffin. I only realized when it touched my lips that I’d gone into robot mode and almost eaten a bite of the forbidden fruit.
Dropping my hands to my lap, I tried to tell myself it was a chill breeze that raised goosebumps up and down my forearms. That or the fact that I seemed to be playing right into Marina’s hands.
She hummed, then shrugged. “I need another item. From a rich guy you don’t like very much.”
That sounded too easy. The sticking point being.... “Who?”
“Rowan McCallister.”
I shivered. Had she known what I intended to ask before I asked it?
That said, I had no compunction against stealing from Rowan. “What do you want me to take?”
“First, we’ll see if you can infiltrate.” Marina rose, the flower petals on the table swirling around her in a way that didn’t match normal air-flow patterns. Could a Sleeper really be capable of this?
I sat, ceding the high ground as Marina continued. “Find a way into Rowan’s pack and I’ll be in touch once you’re situated. Then, if you’re successful, you’ll earn a boon from the fae.”
Chapter 23
The water felt twice as cold when I slipped back into it a second time. Meanwhile, my mind whirled with questions.
Would I be helping my team or hindering them if I followed Marina’s orders? Was Marina really just a Sleeper? Or did those flower petals point at something deeper and darker—a bona fide member of the fae?
Big-picture, those issues were important. Still, my primary concern was for Harper.
“Your sister will not be impacted by my actions,” Marina had told me. But her words were open to interpretation.
And Harper would trust her teacher implicitly. Marina could have gotten here by car much faster than my best swimming strokes carried me....
So I was annoyed rather than glad when the figure waiting for me at Lupe’s dock materialized into Tank. He held out a huge, fluffy towel as I splashed ashore. “You need a shower.”
Why did everyone think I stunk today?
“Your lips,” he continued, “are blue.”
Oh. Tank was responding to the chill that seemed to have sunk into my bones. I pulled the towel around me, basking in its warmth. “Thanks. But I’ve got to check on Harper....”
I turned away, but Tank was faster. “Is there a problem?” He was in front of me again, but not looking at me. Instead, he tapped at his cell phone for a few seconds before adding: “Kira says they’re together. Harper and Clara are both fine.”
“You’re sure?” Air finally filled my lungs. The lightness in my head receded.
Tank cocked his head. “Positive. Is there a problem?”
“Maybe. Where are they? I need to talk to her.”
“Hold on.” Tank’s hands came down on my shoulders when I started to step around him a second time. “I’ll ask Kira to keep her eyes open. But you need a hot shower. And to eat. Training starts back up in forty-five minutes.”
There was a grocery bag on the ground, I noted. One that smelled enticingly savory, like garlic and cheese and something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
Tank hadn’t only brought me a towel. He’d collected a lunch for me also. That additional scent might have been joy.
Perhaps that’s why I pushed back the decision about Marina’s job to be made later. Chose to trust Kira with my sister’s safety, even though I’d never outsourced the critical task previously. Still, I had questions. “Do you think Kira could hold off a Sleeper? Salt worked for me last time....”
Tank’s eyebrows rose. “Is there something you want to tell me?” But he was already thumb typing. Glancing at the screen, I saw that he was passing on my instructions, along with a note not to scare the younger girls.
“Yeah,” I decided. My chest was tight, but I nodded. “There is something I want to tell you.”
Because, if I was taking this job, not for my own sake but for the sake of the Samhain Shifters, then someone else on the team ought to know about it. And I was ready, finally, to spill my guts.
Only, Tank apparently wasn’t ready. “Good. I’ll warm up your lunch while you shower.” He pushed me before him, away from the lake and toward my cabin. “Then we can talk.”
I DRIED MYSELF OFF in the bathroom while listening to the homey sounds of a man puttering around my cabin’s tiny kitchen. To my surprise, the noise didn’t impinge on my privacy. Not when the scent of hot soup filtered in through a crack in the door.
Still, I braced myself for chill when I slipped out of the steamy bathroom. Last night, I’d shivered beneath the comforter. Now, despite a hot shower, the lake’s chill still lingered in my bones.
But Tank had figured out how to turn on the heat, a feat I hadn’t been capable of. As I exited the bathroom, I found myself shedding a layer rather than hunting down another one.
“There’s no table, but I think we should eat inside anyway,” Tank rumbled, gaze meeting mine without any of the hesitation he’d shown previously. In fact, his eyes were hot now, as if I wasn’t the only one who’d been a
ware of my nakedness one thin wall away from his domestic activities. “You need more time to warm up.”
As Tank spoke, he motioned toward a colorful cloth spread across a patch of floor that had been filthy this morning but was now as pristine as it was going to get without mopping. Atop the cloth sat a bowl of soup and a sandwich garnished with something frilly and green.
“This is perfect.” And I was starving. So starving I managed to tear my eyes away from Tank’s broad shoulders long enough to focus on the lunch he’d made.
Still, it took only three mouthfuls before the issue of Marina bubbled back up inside me. Harper’s safety. The danger of a Sleeper so close to the Samhain Shifter’s home base.
And yet...when I set down my spoon and swiveled slightly to face my companion, something entirely different came out of my mouth. “Will you tell me why you cut your face?”
“If you eat, I’ll talk.” Tank’s eyes were smiling, even though his mouth was a straight line.
“Okay.” I took a big bite of the sandwich, which involved chicken and cheese and pesto, the whole thing just shy of too hot to handle. It was the most delicious morsel I’d ever eaten. I somehow knew Tank had assembled it himself.
The story he told, however, made me lose my appetite.
The tragedy started with pack drama far worse than what I’d lived through. An old alpha was replaced by his son, the latter weak and foolish. “I was strong enough that I could have overthrown him and seized the role of pack leader,” Tank rumbled. “But it would have been the wrong move.”
“So you messed up your own face?” The solution made no sense to me.
“Eat your soup,” Tank demanded. Only when I was once again filling my belly did he delve deeper into awfulness that thoroughly confirmed my distrust of packs. Three different alpha-leaning males had wanted Tank to mate with their daughters. They promised him support if he overthrew the new leader of the pack.
“It stank of civil war,” Tank explained in his deep rumble. “No matter which daughter I chose, the other fathers would have torn us down. Plus, that wasn’t the kind of mating I was prepared to take part in.” He paused, watching to make sure I sipped soup, before adding: “Then our alpha found out.”
Moon Glamour Page 11
