“I’m pretty sure all I’ve got is donuts and diet coke, but you’re welcome to look. The kitchen is down the hall.”
He flashed a soft smile. “Got it covered.”
***
Tanya went up the stairs. Stripping, she kicked her dirty clothes to the corner of her room and then flipped on the TV for background noise.
Naked, she snapped on the bathroom light, but paused at her reflection in the vanity mirror. Disheveled. That was the word. She had leaves in her hair and dirt smeared from her face and neck to her arms. The clothes she kicked to the corner of the room were filthy and torn. Surreal incarnate stared back at her from the mirror.
“Mr. Miyagi also said, ‘best defense, no be there’.”
She needed to get out of the house. Away from Jared and his fairy-tale-gone-wrong world. He looked like a fantasy and kissed like a fantasy, but this was bigger than him tying her libido in knots. She’d wasted enough time letting him talk. Forewarned was forearmed, but enough was enough. His world wasn’t her world, and as much as she’d like to stay and play, she wasn’t about to let his world dictate the shots.
She needed to be clever and quick. Florida was beautiful this time of year, and her parents would love the surprise. She owed them a visit anyway.
Turning on the tap, she brushed the leaves and knots from her hair, winding the dark mass into a top knot before washing the dirt and blood from face and body as best she could. She dried off, tossing the towel in the hamper.
“Clothes. Money. Food,” she mumbled, rummaging in her closet. She dressed quickly, stuffing a clean set of comfy yoga clothes into the front pocket, leaving the center pocket for a box of protein bars and the bottles of water she kept in her closet for the gym.
She dug out the stash of emergency cash she hid from Jesse, before shoving everything into a backpack. She’d buy clothes and whatever else she needed in Florida. She checked her back pocket for her cellphone. Thank God for wallet cases and Apple Pay.
Opening the window, she then scrambled under the bed for the collapsible fire ladder her father had ordered from QVC. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d use it for something like this.
Hooking it onto the window sill, she let it unroll, praying it didn’t clatter against the siding. Backpack on, she swung her leg over the edge and climbed down until she dangled the last ten feet from the grass in the side yard.
“Practicing a midnight fire drill? And I thought all lawyers were logical.” Jared stood at the edge of the grass near the driveway, legs apart and his arms folded across his chest.
Tanya glared at him from over her shoulder before dropping with a huff to the grass below. Pivoting on her heel, she took a step toward him with her hands in tight fists so he wouldn’t see them shake.
“I am logical. What’s illogical is everything that happened tonight.” She flung her arm toward the woods behind the house. “From my now dead ex-boyfriend cheating on me with a local tramp, all the way to finding out fairytale monsters are REAL!”
Her breath came in short, aggravated puffs as she waited for him to say something. “Twenty minutes ago I couldn’t get you to shut up. What happened, cat got your tongue, wolf boy? If you’re going to stand there like a meathead bouncer, then get out of my way, or better yet, get off my property.”
“Tanya, I wish I could reset your mind clock to blissful ignorance, but that’s not going to happen, and but pulling a Leonardo DiCaprio is not the answer.”
“A Leonardo DiCaprio?”
“Catch Me If You Can? The movie? The scene where he climbs out the window to escape the feds?”
“Cute. Except, I’m not escaping, Jared. I’m leaving. There’s a difference.”
In a blur of movement, he took her car keys. Pointing the wireless remote toward the street, he clicked the key fob, and her car chirped, its lights flashing on and off.
“Great. Let’s go. I’ll take you wherever you want.”
“Kidnapping carries a sentence of five to twenty.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s a stretch, Counselor.”
“Not when you won’t leave unless I go with you.”
“I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“Stop saying that.”
“How do you suggest I phrase it, then? How about I’d rather you not die? Or, I’m sorry pack law puts your life in danger?”
She glared at him. “I’m a lawyer, Jared. Semantics are my wheelhouse, so don’t even try.”
“I’ve obligated myself to keep you safe. So how about we plea bargain? You don’t want to stay here with me? Fine. What if I took you someplace safe, instead?”
She exhaled a rough breath. Demons. Shapeshifters. A dead ex-boyfriend and his prom queen. Under normal circumstances, she’d argue the point. Pulling every lawyerly trick she knew to win her case. Except there was nothing normal about this, and there was no winning.
Tanya bolted for the rear of the house and hopped her neighbor’s back fence into the adjacent woods.
“Wrong answer, Tanya!”
Running blind, there was no path for her to follow. The sky had brightened to a dawn pink, but the forest was still dark.
She could hear Jared yelling, but she kept going. If she was lucky, the noise would disturb her neighbors, and someone would call the police.
Her lungs burned when the rush of adrenaline wore off, but she pushed forward, only stopping to catch her breath and get her bearings. Unless the wolves took it, or burned it, Jesse’s car would still be in the parking lot.
If she got to it before Jared got to her, she could put real distance between herself and this crazy night.
Hi, Mom! Mind if I stay a few weeks? No, nothing’s wrong. I’m running from a pack of demon-hunting werewolves. Oh, and by the way, vampires are real, too, and I may have flooded your bathroom.
Yeah. Can we say psych ward?
The creek ran the length of the forest, and she followed its embankment to the edge of the trailhead. She hugged the waterline, staying low until she spotted the parking lot through the trees.
Bingo.
The lot was deserted, and Jesse’s car was still there, untouched. She darted across the pavement trying to remember where Jesse stashed his spare key.
“Talk about being slow. I could have grown a full beard by now.”
She skidded to a stop, watching Jared walk from the open passenger door to lean on the rear bumper. Speechless, her shoulders slumped, and she dropped her backpack.
“I guess you win. Happy?”
“Nothing about this makes me happy, Tanya. Still, you confound me. You were willing to face grand theft auto and implicate yourself in Jesse and Marlene’s disappearance rather than let me help you. Why?”
She exhaled, shaking her head. “I don’t know. Self-preservation?”
“Were you planning on running forever?”
She balked. “Would I have had to?” She raised one hand and let it drop. “You know what. I don’t care anymore. I don’t have the strength to fight you. I’m used to being my own self-advocate, so—” She shrugged. “I guess I didn’t think.”
He hooked his thumbs into the waist of his jeans. “Self-preservation can be a powerful motivator. I don’t blame you. Running was still a stupid thing to do, but I don’t blame you.”
She walked to rear of the car and leaned on the bumper beside him. “I should’ve listened to you. For no other reason than I’m filthy—again.”
“There are way more reasons that, Tanya. I’m not the scariest thing out here, you know. Or did you forget our little problem with the lesser?”
She blinked. “You mean there are more?”
“Lately, yes.”
She had run from Jared, straight into the creature’s favorite hunting grounds. “Jesus, Jared! You could have led with that fact!” She swallowed hard.
“I’ve already told you plenty. You know more about what lurks in the shadows than most people. Anyone else would’ve opted to stay indoors for the rest of
their lives.”
Tanya sniffed.
“I don’t understand why you won’t let yourself trust me. Have I hurt you? Have I even threatened to hurt you?
“No, but that doesn’t mean you can’t…or won’t.”
Jared rolled his eyes. “If I wanted to harm you, I could. Easily. That’s not how I operate, Tanya. Why else would I go to all this bother? Maybe I should hand you over to the Sentinel Brotherhood and see what they say about it.”
“You wouldn’t! Jared, you promised!”
“Ah, so now I promised, huh? Well, how about you promise me something. Since you won’t stay at your own house with me, I have to take you someplace I know you’ll be safe. A place I can come and go from, and not worry. There’s only one other place I know that checks all the boxes, but if you keep this up, I’ll have no other choice but to—”
Tanya cut him off. “No, I’ll go. I have no alternative but to trust you.”
“Your vote of confidence overwhelms me,” he replied dryly. “I waited for you here, but then thought better of using your ex’s car. Yours is parked around the bend, away from the entrance.
She stared at him dumbfounded. “Are you telling me you raced ahead of me through the woods and then went back to get my car and still beat me here?”
“I’m a wolf, Tanya, what did you expect?”
She snapped her mouth closed.
“Besides,” he shrugged for effect. “You’re not that hard to figure out.”
Speechless, she followed him to her car. Jared unlocked the doors, and she slid into the passenger seat, her eyes never leaving him. Folding her arms, she hmmphed.
We’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?
Chapter Six
“Payton! You up?” Jared yelled up the stairs, closing the screen door behind him.
“Well, will you look at what the cat left on my front porch?” a female voice called from down the hall. The smell of fresh brewed coffee and biscuits followed, making Tanya’s mouth water.
A pretty woman in her mid-forties came into the hall. She leaned against the door jamb sipping from a hand-thrown, ceramic mug. Her eyes passed back and forth from Jared to Tanya, and a smile twitched at the corner of her full mouth.
“Just made a fresh pot of coffee, and from the way you and your friend look, you could both use a cup. Come on in,” she gestured, lifting the mug toward the swinging kitchen door.
Before the woman turned, Jared grabbed her into a bear hug, spilling some of her coffee.
“Jared, cut it out before I slap your ears back! Where are your manners? Aren’t you going to introduce me to your lady friend?”
“Payton, this is Tanya Richards. It’s complicated, so don’t ask. Tanya, this is Payton Webb. She’s one of the Sentinel wives.”
A shadow slid across the woman’s face, clouding her eyes, but a quick breath and a smile promptly hid what was beneath the fleeting expression.
“Well, I used to be, anyway. Come in and have some breakfast. As to your complicated story, I already know. Aidan figured you’d bring Tanya here, so he called last night. What took you so long, anyway?” she asked, looking at them both as they quietly slid onto a couple of chairs at her kitchen table.
“Again…it’s a long story.”
Payton eyed the two of them nodding. “Mmmm. I bet.”
Tanya’s face grew hot. Staring at her hands, she glanced at Jared from beneath her lashes. His ear to ear grin made her grit her teeth.
“It’s not what you think, Mrs. Webb. I was very reluctant to…to…follow Jared’s instructions,” she offered, hesitantly.
“I see,” Payton answered with half a smile. “Well, I can certainly understand that. My own experience with the Sentinel Brotherhood is they can be rather insistent, at times.” Her half smile turned into a full on smirk and she patted Jared’s hand. “Present company included.”
Jared rolled his eyes, but a smile winked from their depths. “Gee, thanks.”
Tanya accepted a mug of coffee, and couldn’t help but smile at Payton’s offhand way. The woman didn’t strike her as the subservient mate she expected. She was kind and quick-witted, and obviously comfortable with giving it right back when dished out.
Jared was right. She did feel safe here. More importantly, she felt comfortable. Well, as comfortable as she could under the circumstances. Tanya had a feeling if anyone could help her make heads or tails of all this, it was Payton Webb.
The three sat awkwardly, Payton doing her level best to fill the silence with small talk, but the air crackled with tension despite the forced veneer of calm. Tanya was under duress, and there was no getting around that fact.
At the older woman’s insistence, Tanya ate more than the nervously polite mouthful she had intended. She bit back on the worry and fear gnawing at her gut and relaxed into a sort of numbness.
Eyeing Tanya, Payton blew across the rim of her coffee cup. “Honey, you look like you’re about to land face first in your eggs.” Shifting her gaze toward Jared, she shot him a look, her unspoken directive loud and clear.
Draining the last of his coffee, he wiped his mouth on a napkin before easing himself back from the table. The silence was deafening as he glanced between the two women.
Payton didn’t say another word, but the way she looked at him told everyone she had her own two cents worth about the situation.
Tanya pushed the food around on her plate. Catching her eye, Jared jerked his head toward the hallway. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
On auto-pilot, Tanya rose from her seat. The chair scraped against the kitchen floor, the sound a jarring counterpoint to the unease in the room.
Mumbling her thanks, she rounded the table to where Jared waited in the doorway. She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder at Payton, already stacking dirty dishes into the dishwasher.
“Go on, honey, rest.” The older woman flashed Tanya a sympathetic smile. “I’m not going anywhere, and there’ll be plenty of time for us to talk later.” With a wink and a nod, she tossed a dishtowel over her shoulder as the two headed upstairs.
Tanya followed Jared into the room she assumed would be hers for the duration. Exhaling, she stood with her back to the double dresser, purposefully avoiding the mirror. She didn’t want to see the fear reflected in her own eyes. Folding her arms protectively across her chest, she scanned the room.
The walls were done in soothing shades of green, offset by the natural hue of the polished oak furniture. Embroidered sheers fluttered at the open windows, each flanking a large four-poster bed in the center of the room. She yawned, and the overstuffed pillows propped against the headboard called her by name. Payton had certainly gotten it right, the whole room exuded peace.
Jared cleared his throat. “If you need anything, just ask. Payton knows how to get in touch with me. And please, promise you won’t run or do anything stupid.”
“Stupid.” She feigned innocence. “Like what? Oh, I know. Like taking a known shortcut home.” Tanya exhaled in disgust. “If I do, maybe I’ll get lucky this time, and run into a couple of vampires instead!”
Mouth tight she stared him down. “Look, I know I said I would cooperate, but you’re just dumping me here, aren’t you?”
Jared looked at the ceiling and sighed. “No. I’m not dumping you here, Tanya. I have to go. In case you forgot, I have the little problem of a demon attack to deal with.”
Tanya didn’t comment. Turning away, she glanced out the window to the street below. Outside, the world went about its business, completely oblivious to the terror lurking in the shadows not far from their own back yards. For them, it was just another day. Same old, same old. Yeah right.
Rubbing her bare arms, she looked at Jared. “Are you coming back?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be around.” He gave her a half smile. “Get some sleep, you look like you’re ready to fall over.”
Agitated and worn out, Tanya sat on the edge of the bed, not knowing which to deal with first, fat
igue or anxiety. Her cell phone buzzed, pulling her out of her funk. Hunting around in her pockets, she forgot she even had it, thinking she left it in her backpack.
“Hello? Oh, hey, Angela. Listen, I really can’t talk…what? No, I haven’t, why? Are you kidding me? Jesus. I gotta call you back.” She hit end on her cellphone and threw it onto the bed, her eyes flying around the room. “Where’s the goddamned remote? Jared, turn on the television, Shit, what next?”
He handed her the remote from the dresser. “Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?”
She mumbled, waving at him to shut up and watch.
“Local police are investigating what appears to be the remnants of a satanic rite carried out last night in the Meadowbrook Trail Preserve. Evidence of animal sacrifice was found in the remains of a ritual fire, located not far from the first trailhead. A 1997 Honda Accord, as well as random clothing belonging to a man and a woman were also found at the scene. According to sources within the police department, evidence of foul play is suspected.”
The cameras panned wide, but then tightened on investigators working near scorch marks burned into the pavement. Scorch marks bearing a gruesome resemblance to two human figures.
“Crime scene investigators are in the process of assessing the area, as well as conducting interviews throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. Anyone with any knowledge of the events should call the number listed at the bottom of their screen. All calls will be kept confidential.”
The camera pulled back, giving the audience a wider view of the locale. It was a small town media circus, with uniformed police struggling to keep the area clear of curious bystanders.
The reporter droned on, and a close up of the evidence collected at the scene flashed across the television. Tanya stood with her hand covering her mouth. Behind the yellow police tape, tagged and bagged with the rest of the evidence, was her backpack.
Realization hitting, Jared reached for the door. “Payton! Get the hell up here!” he shouted, rushing back to Tanya.
The Wolf's Secret Witch: Howl's Romance (The Sentinel Brotherhood Book 1) Page 5
