Circle of Desire

by Keri Arthur

  Her grandmother opened the door as they approached. Her gaze went from her to Ethan and back again, and her smile stretched.

  “About time,” she said, and Kat knew she wasn’t referring to their arrival.

  “There are some things that can’t be rushed.” Even though Ethan seemed to think they had.

  “I guess not.” Gwen stepped back, waving them in.

  The cabin was basic but comfortable. Kat dropped her bag on the sofa and headed for the open fire, holding her hands out to the flames.

  “I’ve put you two in the bigger cabin next door.” Gwen indicated a side door. “And I lit the fire, so it’ll be nice and warm when you come back after your walk.”

  Kat glanced at Ethan to see what reaction he had to this presumption, but he had his cop face on. She looked back at Gwen and said, “Have you tried scrying yet?”

  “No. And I won’t until you come back.”

  “What about this attack you mentioned earlier?” Ethan dropped his bag on the floor, then joined her by the fire. His shoulder brushed Kat’s, warming her faster than any flames. “Shouldn’t we be getting ready for that?”

  “Until we know what is attacking us, it’s useless trying to build a defense. But I’ve taken basic measures.”

  “Locked the doors, checked the windows?”

  “Placed warding stones around my bed, as ordered.” Her gaze met Kat’s. “But not yours, so be warned.”

  She nodded. The magic of these particular stones extended only so far, and a queen-sized bed wasn’t within those limitations. There were stones that could guard the bed—and even a whole town, if needed—but they tended to be larger, and therefore were harder to carry around. Of course, her grandmother was also presuming she and Ethan were actually going to share a bed. Looking at him now, she had an unsettling feeling that wasn’t likely.

  He’d said nothing more than sex, and that’s what she’d agreed to. Did that “nothing more” include not sleeping together?

  She crossed her arms and hoped that wasn’t the case. She’d like to think there was something between them other than the immediate need for release. That it wasn’t just the moon and the fever rushing through his veins that made him want her. That he actually liked her.

  “I’ll go change, then we can get our walk over with.” She picked up her bag and walked into the other cabin. It was a mirror image of Gwen’s, only a little bigger. She continued into the bedroom. The bed was luxurious, covered with a comforter thick enough to lose fingers in. Across from it was another open fire, smaller than the one in the living room but just as warm. She dumped her bag on the bed and checked out the bathroom. It was basic, but there was a big old claw-foot tub. Just the thing she needed to take the chills from her spine later.

  She went back to the bedroom and changed into warmer clothes, then grabbed her coat and the chocolate bar and headed back to the other cabin. Gran was sitting on the sofa, a bemused expression on her face. Ethan was nowhere to be seen.

  “What have you done with him?”

  Gwen snorted. “He’s outside, pacing.”

  “Why on earth is he pacing?”

  “At a guess, I’d say he’s angry. Not sure why, though.” She paused, eyebrows raised and eyes twinkling. “What on earth did you do to him?”

  Heat touched her cheeks. “Me? Nothing.” Nothing except make love to him, and surely he couldn’t be angry at that. He’d wanted her as badly as she’d wanted him.

  “Well, something’s got him all worked up, so tread warily.” Gwen glanced at her watch. “And be careful when you’re walking around out there. It’s always possible I was wrong about the timing of the attack.”

  Kat nodded. “Are you retreating to the stones?”

  “Right after I finish my coffee. Ethan’s got the key to your cabin, but if my light is on, come in and give me a report.”

  Something she’d be doing anyway, just to make sure Gwen was okay. She shoved on her coat, then went out to find Ethan.

  He’d stopped his pacing and was standing in the middle of the driveway, staring up at the cold silver moon. She stopped beside him and thrust her hands in her pockets. “It must be horrible,” she said softly.

  She could feel his gaze on her but didn’t meet it.

  “What must be horrible?”

  “Being forced through the change every full moon.” She loved shifting shape, but then, she was able to pick and choose. A werewolf had no such choice, not when it came to the full moon.

  “It’s just the actual change that happens with the full moon. The true change begins five days before, when the base urges begin to rise.”

  She smiled. “I wouldn’t have thought that part of it would be much of a problem to most men. Doesn’t the allure of the werewolf guarantee a satisfied outcome?”

  “Mostly.”

  “Then surely it’s only the forced change that presents any real problem.”

  “Losing your soul to a beast is never pleasant.”

  She did look at him then, a little surprised by the acerbity in his voice. “But the werewolf is your soul. It’s you.”

  “It’s not me. It’s a beast I’m forced to live with once a month.”

  Good lord, he couldn’t mean that! “Are you saying you don’t shift shape at any other time except when the moon is full?”

  “I’m human, not an animal.” He thrust his hands into his pockets and walked away. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “But …” Her voice died. This was the first time she’d ever met a shifter who didn’t accept his heritage, and she wasn’t entirely sure what to say.

  And what would he think of her, if he ever discovered she could shift shape as well?

  “But,” she repeated, running after him, “you’re not an animal, because you control the werewolf, not him you. Even on the night of the full moon when the change is forced on you.”

  “It’s not something I want, regardless.”

  Why? Had he always felt this way, or had something happened in the past, with this bitterness the end result?

  “But if you don’t accept it, how in hell are your kids ever going to understand and control—”

  “I won’t ever have kids,” he broke in, voice harsh. “So that’s not going to be a problem.”

  She blinked. His fury spun around her, so deep and raw it snatched her breath away. “You don’t like kids?”

  “No.” His voice was flat. Dead. “If we’re going to play twenty questions, why don’t you try answering a few?”

  She gave him a sideways glance. His face was still expressionless, but the way he moved, the set of his shoulders, all suggested anger. At her. “What?” she said warily.

  “Why did you kill the driver that rammed us?”

  It certainly wasn’t the question she’d been expecting, and though she schooled the surprise from her face, she knew he’d probably seen it anyway. “What do you mean?”

  He stopped and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him. His eyes were dark puddles of rage, his fingers hot and tight through the thick layers of clothing.

  “Mark arranged for a cruiser to go out and pick up the suspect. But he was dead when they got there.”

  She cursed internally. Trust the damn cops to get there before the thing had disintegrated properly. “I have no idea—”

  He shook her so hard her teeth rattled. Energy surged, and she clenched her fists, fighting the desire to slap his angry butt across to the other side of the road.

  “Don’t lie to me,” he said. “You killed the driver. I don’t know how, but I intend to find out why.”

  She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “I’ve told you why already. If you don’t want to listen, it’s your problem, not mine. Now let me go before I do something I may regret.”

  “You killed a suspect in a murder case—”

  “You’re going to have a hard time proving that, buddy. First, I didn’t go anywhere near the suspect, and second, by morning that body is going to
be nothing more than a few scraps of bone and hair.”

  He stared at her, anger so evident in his eyes they practically glowed. He didn’t believe her. She wondered what in hell it was going to take before he did.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I told you, it’s a zombie. Now that it really is dead, it’ll undergo an accelerated decomposition process. Now get your hand off me.”

  “Not until you tell me how you killed it.”

  She hit him with kinetic power instead, wrenching his fingers from her arm and thrusting him across the road. He hit a pine with enough force to shake some cones loose and slithered down its trunk to the ground.

  “That’s how,” she said loudly, then spun and walked away.

  It was a few minutes before she heard him move, longer until he began following her. His anger was a cloud that practically reached out and suffocated her. She had no idea why she was sensing his emotions so clearly, but she really wished it would stop. Right now, she’d rather not deal with any of it. Maybe if she put some distance between them, it would give them both time to cool down.

  She swung onto a side street and shifted shape, taking to the skies on night-dark wings. The air was crisp and cool, and the sheer freedom of it felt so good. It had been too long since she’d flown for the pleasure of it. For several minutes she simply drifted, enjoying the caress of moonlight and the play of air through her feathers. She soared a little higher, circling as she watched Ethan’s progress. He reached the side street and came to a halt, and even from above she could feel his surprise. A laugh bubbled through her, but it came out the harsh and raucous cry of a raven.

  He glanced up. She flicked her wings and swept away, flying across the small town until she was on the opposite side. This section was in the foothills, and streetlights and houses were few and far between. Not an ideal place to be alone in the dark of night—unless you were trawling for the dead. In a town the size of Rogue River, the lonely outskirts were the only place they could hide with any degree of safety. The hearts of such towns were usually too full of gossips who didn’t miss a trick. Even dead ones.

  She spiraled downward, shifting shape as she neared the ground. The minute her feet hit dirt, she felt it.

  Death, headed her way.

  ETHAN STARED AT THE EMPTY STREET AND WONDERED IF HIS eyes were playing games. No one could move that fast. Not even him in wolf form.

  High above a bird squawked, the sound oddly reminiscent of a laugh. He glanced up, catching sight of a black form before it flew off. Odd to find a raven this close to the coast—not that he was any sort of expert when it came to birdlife around these parts.

  He let his gaze sweep the street again. She definitely wasn’t here. Her scent stopped at this spot and became something else, something far more ethereal. He walked on, but the night air gave no clue as to where she’d gone. He cursed under his breath, then got his cell phone out and dialed Mark.

  “Hey,” his partner said. “I thought you were supposed to be screwing yourself silly right about now.”

  “I was.” And had it not been for this case and one infuriating woman, he probably still would have been.

  He glanced skyward again. This afternoon’s lovemaking had eased the pressure, but as the moon rose, so, too, did the fever. It worried him. He had no wish to find another partner right now, but if Kat wasn’t accommodating, he just might have to. When the moon ran to fullness, desire gave way to base-level need. He had no wish to test the breaking point of his control.

  “I want you to do me a favor,” he said.

  “Sure. What?”

  “Go check out that body they found in the back of the truck.”

  “They wouldn’t have had time to do an autopsy yet.”

  “I know. Call in some favors if you have to, but get down there tonight and check it out for me.”

  “Why the urgency?”

  “Because there may not be much of a body left in the morning to check out.”

  Mark hesitated. “Have you been drinking?”

  “No.” Though he wouldn’t have minded a beer or two right now, if only to ease the stiffness in his bruised back muscles. “Just trust me on this and do as I ask.”

  Mark grunted. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah. Do another background check on Katherine Tanner. I want to know all there is to know about her.”

  The phone line was silent for several seconds, then Mark said, “Don’t tell me she’s the pretty girl you’re bedding, partner, because the captain will hit the roof.”

  “My sex life has nothing to do with Benton.”

  “It does when the woman you’re involved with is a major player in a case you’ve been warned off.”

  “I started this case, and I have every intention of finishing it. And neither the department nor the captain is going to stop me.”

  “This could get you into very deep trouble, my friend.”

  “If we catch this killer, I don’t really care.”

  Mark grunted. “So where the hell are the three of you now? The captain went off his tree when he discovered they’d left the hotel with no word.”

  “We’re in Rogue River. The killer’s apparently on the move, so I can’t say how long we’ll stay.”

  “You want me to inform the local sheriff you’re there?”

  No, he didn’t, but if things went pear-shaped, it was better to have their butts covered. “You’d better. I guess you’d better tell the captain, too.”

  “I will. And keep me posted. If you find anything—and I mean anything—you report in. I don’t want to be going through the hassle of breaking in a new partner. I just got you trained properly.”

  “Yeah, right,” Ethan said dryly. “Just do the checks for me, will you?”

  “I’ll see what I can do and call you back.”

  “Thanks.”

  He hung up and stopped at the end of the street. There was no sign of movement to the left or the right. It was as if Kat had disappeared into thin air. But then, someone who could throw him across the road with sheer energy probably had another trick or two up her sleeve.

  He sniffed the air, sorting through the odors of the night, and detected the faintest hint of sunshine to his right. He turned that way, but he had barely gone three steps when pain hit him so hard he stumbled.

  Kat. In trouble.

  He didn’t question his certainty, just ran like hell in her direction.

  KAT DUCKED THE ZOMBIE’S CLENCHED FIST AND LASHED out with a booted foot. Her blow hit the creature’s knee with a satisfying crack, but if she’d done any damage it certainly didn’t show. The creature swung around, fists a blur. She leaned back and felt the rush of stinking air past her chin. She hit the zombie kinetically, thrusting it backward. It tumbled over a roadside barrier and disappeared from sight.

  Two more emerged from the night. She swore softly. Three against one was decidedly unfair. Time for a strategic retreat, perhaps. She reached for her alternate shape, but in that instant, she felt the breeze of a fourth approach. She dove away, but something hit her arm, sliding through her jacket and sweater and deep into her flesh.

  White fire burned through her veins and pain engulfed her. White ash. They had white ash. Holy hell, she was in trouble now! She gulped down air, fighting the blackness. Ignoring the sweat beading her face, she pivoted, smacking the zombie hard in the nose. Bone crushed and bits of flesh and God knows what else flew, but he didn’t seem to care. He grabbed her foot, twisting hard, and she screamed. Energy bubbled through her and she flung it his way, twisting it around his neck and snapping it taut. He was dead before he knew what hit him. She thrust his limp body into the other two. They went down like bowling pins but just as quickly righted themselves.

  She turned and ran. She had no other choice. The white ash pinned her to the one form, and if she didn’t get it out quickly it could very well kill her.

  Their footsteps thudded behind her, drawing ever closer. Zombies might be dead, but they weren�
�t slow. Even without turning, she could feel their fingers reaching for her.

  She flung kinetic energy at the nearest tree, ripping free a heavy tree limb and tossing it behind her. Bodies thumped, and the stink of their presence disappeared. She stopped, spun, and hit another one kinetically, breaking its neck. Two down. But her whole body was shaking, and it wasn’t just a reaction to the white ash in her arm. She was pushing her abilities to the limit. If she wasn’t very careful, she’d have no energy left with which to defend herself.

  But she couldn’t run much farther, either. The movements were driving the white ash deeper into her flesh.

  The zombies tossed the tree limb aside like so much rubbish. She took a deep breath, raised kinetic energy from God knows where, and hit them both, drawing a tight leash of energy around their necks. She stood her ground as they ran at her, waiting until they were close enough to smell before she snapped the leash tight. They dropped as one at her feet and didn’t move.

  She took another shuddering breath, then looked at the warm glow of lights below her. She couldn’t make it that far by herself. Not with the white ash in her arm. But she couldn’t stay here, either. It would be just her luck that the local sheriff would decide to drive by, and she wasn’t up to explaining the bodies of the zombies right now. If the man who’d shared a moment of bliss with her didn’t believe her story, why in hell would a complete stranger?

  She continued on down the hill. The white ash burned deep, until it felt as if her whole body was being consumed. She wished she could wrench it free from her flesh, but she didn’t dare even touch it in her weakened condition—not even kinetically. Blood dripped from her fingers, splashing in big, fat drops near her feet. The shaking grew worse, until she was staggering like a drunkard all over the road. She couldn’t go on. She had to sit.