Wild Cat

by Jennifer Ashley

  “We need to help Reid,” Diego said.

  “Doesn’t look like it’s our fight,” Xavier said.

  “They just saved our butts. I need to do something for them.”

  Diego held out his left hand for his Sig, and Cassidy reluctantly relinquished it. His right hand, the one the knife had gone through, was pretty much useless, but Diego’s left hand was strong, and he was a good marksman with either hand.

  “Got a spare clip?” Diego asked his brother.

  Xavier wordlessly handed it over. Diego ejected his empty and reloaded. He looked at Cassidy.

  He knew he’d waste his breath begging her to run across the bridge to safety. Cassidy was staying, would fight by his side, would haul him off to save him if he fell. As he would for her.

  “Nice day for it,” Diego said to her.

  Cassidy smiled back, her beautiful, loving smile that made his heart beat faster. “I say we go for it.”

  Diego leaned down and kissed her warm lips. “Love you, Cass.”

  “Love you back.”

  Xavier put his arm around Diego’s shoulders, his shining chrome Sig dangling from his good hand. “When’s the wedding?”

  Diego gave him a look and released Cassidy. “Let’s go help Reid.”

  Reid didn’t look like he needed a lot of help. During the little time Diego had known him, the man had always been morose and unhappy, lashing out in anger or folding up in misery.

  Now Diego saw what Reid must have been before his exile—a fighter. A good and bloodthirsty fighter.

  Reid laid into the hoch alfar with his crowbar, going up against those with bows, swords, chain mail—he didn’t much care. He swung and brought down a Fae from a horse, smashing the iron bar into the Fae’s face. The Fae screamed and then went horribly quiet.

  The dokk alfar were fighting hard, and the hoch alfar were fighting just as hard back. Peigi jumped in, her bear attacking without restraint.

  Peigi showed Diego how Shifters were bred to fight—no Collar holding her back. She attacked with the strength and speed of a bear coupled with the cunning of a human. Animals with human intelligence. As dangerous as Reid had once told him.

  Peigi fought at Reid’s side, keeping the hoch alfar from reaching him.

  Diego and Cassidy waded in. Xavier stayed at the bridge, guarding the retreat.

  Diego knew he wasn’t going to be much good for fighting, but he could at least still shoot. Cassidy ran to help Shane, she beating off a hoch alfar who had been about to skewer the bear. Diego took aim, ready to shoot if he needed to.

  The general broke out of the group and headed for Reid, the target for this whole fight. Pretty elaborate and long-lived trap for one man, Diego thought. Did they consider Reid that dangerous?

  A long sword glittered in the general’s hand. Reid was unprotected, no vest, no weapon but a crowbar.

  Peigi and Reid were fighting, not seeing the danger. Diego held his hurt hands steady, took aim, and shot the sword out of the general’s hand.

  The general whirled around, and Diego grinned at him. “Hey, remember me?”

  The general grabbed a bow out of a passing Fae’s hands, his own hands flashing as he drew it. The next moment, the general went down with a wildcat on his back.

  Cassidy’s Collar went off, but she held the man pinned in place. Diego limped toward them, ignored by most of the fighters. More hoch alfar had ridden up, and the tide was going to turn against the dokk alfar soon. They were fighting hard, but they’d be crushed by numbers alone.

  As Diego reached Cassidy and the general, a weird, piercing war cry came out of the couple hundred dokk alfar throats. It rang into the mists, scary as hell.

  A lone cry answered it. Reid. He held up his iron bar and shouted one word.

  The hoch alfar started scrambling away, running in pure terror. Diego watched over his aimed pistol, not sure what was going on.

  The Fae jumped onto horses, galloping back across the field for the hills beyond. Those on foot ran like hell. The general, with a surge of strength, got out from under Cassidy, but instead of turning to fight, he sprinted away like a man trying to outrun floodwaters.

  Reid’s iron bar exploded. It morphed from an ordinary crowbar into a rain of iron shards that flew with the speed of bullets after the fleeing hoch alfar.

  Those it struck screamed and fell. A few got up again and kept running, but now the dokk alfar were after them.

  The general, at the tail end of his men, shot behind him as he ran, while iron shards rained down on him like tiny heat-seeking missiles.

  The dokk alfar charged after the Fae. The darkness Diego had first seen coated them like a curtain, and then he could see nothing but the black cloud.

  Reid remained behind, his hands bloody, a defiant look in his eyes. Peigi landed on all fours beside him, growling a possessive bear growl.

  Reid was watching the retreating hoch alfar, his usual arrogance in place. “Weak Fae, my ass,” he said.

  Cassidy loped back to Diego, with Shane and Eric right behind her. Eric rose into his human form. “Time to go. No place for us in a Fae war. Those days are gone forever, thank the Goddess.”

  Eric looked lighthearted for the first time in a long time. He scratched Cassidy’s head and strode off—a tall, naked man with a silver and black Collar, a tatt swirling down his arm, walking unashamedly past Xavier and through the mists that led home.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Diego thought that fighting for his life on a tiny ledge five hundred feet above the ground and then being pulled across empty air in a net of ropes would have cured him of his fear of heights. But, no.

  His head spun with dizziness as he limped across the extremely narrow makeshift bridge from the gate to Faerie to the familiar red brown cliffs of home.

  Don’t look down.

  It was so hard not to look down. Diego had to look to see where he was putting his feet. Below the slender iron span, the empty air dropped away to reveal the river like a vein of silver at the bottom. The sun had risen by now, so he could see everything in panoramic glory.

  The view was beautiful. Upriver the giant span of the dam thrust from the bottom of the gorge, the edifice built nearly a hundred years ago by men braver than Diego. The slab of concrete poured like a sheer cliff from the serene blue lake behind it to the river below. Above it a new bridge spanned from cliff top to cliff top, the sun catching on its arches. Breathtaking.

  The beauty of the sights didn’t help. Diego was too damned high off the ground.

  He clung with one aching hand to Xavier’s shoulder and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Cassidy came right behind him.

  They won’t let me fall, he told himself. My brother and the love of my life will see me safely across.

  Diego was supposed to have an epiphany. A moment of truth that made him conquer his fear and realize that his love for Cassidy was so much stronger than a ridiculous worry about heights.

  No such luck.

  Screw this. I’m going back to the counselor.

  Diego stepped onto the narrow rock ledge, let the rescue team strap a harness around him, and felt his feet leave the ground as they hauled him straight up the cliff. He thought he was going to puke.

  Cassidy smiled at him from below, dressed now in the coverall the rescue guys had brought. She even seated herself on the makeshift bridge and dangled her legs over the side as she waved him on.

  Maybe Cass can teach me not to be afraid. That scenario was much more appealing than the one of him sitting in a room droning to a counselor. The rewards would be much better too. Cassidy would smile at Diego, kiss him, show him how much she admired his bravery…

  By the time he made it to the top, to firm ground, Diego was both sick and dizzy, but picturing Cassidy teaching him not to be afraid of heights helped a lot. Paramedics took over, shoving an oxygen mask on him, unwrapping his hand, taking his blood pressure, generally burying him in modern health care.

&nbs
p; Cassidy came into view before they loaded Diego into the ambulance. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. Her face was dirty and scratched, but she looked good for a woman who’d just been in a hell of a fight. Damn good.

  “You’re beautiful, amada mia,” he said, words muffled by the oxygen mask. Then the paramedics lifted him, slid him into the waiting maw of the ambulance, and slammed the doors.

  * * *

  Humans wouldn’t let Cassidy into the hospital with Diego. She had to fume and rely on Xavier and Diego’s mother to tell her what was going on.

  Diego’s mom was the best resource. She even came to Shiftertown to visit Cassidy that afternoon as the Shifters lay about the Wardens’ living room and back patio, recovering from the fight.

  “They’re keeping him overnight for observation,” Juanita said. “Xavier is staying with him. But the doctors are not that worried. My boy is strong.”

  “And a damn good warrior,” Eric said to her.

  Eric had fired up the grill again. Nothing for it but to celebrate saving Diego and Reid with a big cookout. Juanita took the invitation to stay for the party to mean she could invade the Wardens’ kitchen and put together a meal to die for.

  Cassidy enjoyed the carne adobada—meat spiced with chiles—that Juanita turned out, which she served with tortillas and homemade pico de gallo. Cassidy ate it but chafed at having to sit here without Diego. The mate bond pulled at her, making her want to charge to the hospital and demand to see him.

  It was hell following human rules.

  Juanita leaned down and put her arms around Cassidy as Cassidy sat dejectedly on the edge of the patio. “I know it’s hard,” Juanita said. “But if you come home with me tonight, you’ll be there when he gets back.”

  “You don’t mind?” Cassidy asked.

  “Mind what?”

  “That I love Diego, and that I’m Shifter.”

  Juanita sat down next to Cassidy. “Let me tell you a little about Diego, mi ja. He thinks he has to take care of everyone but himself. Never himself. He joined the Marines to make some money and give Xavier and me a chance to move and start a better life. He joined the police for the same reason. Then when Jobe died, he lived to hunt down the men who killed him. Diego’s never done one single thing for himself. Not ever. He looked after me and after Xavier, and he looked after Jobe and now Jobe’s family. That’s it. And then he brings you home. Chiquita, I have been praying for the day he looked at someone the way he looks at you. He’s finally going to let himself be happy.”

  “But…”

  “No buts. Don’t even think but. I want grandchildren before I die. If they can turn into cute little animals, so what? I’ve always liked cats.”

  Cassidy stared at Juanita for a stunned instant, then she threw her arms around the smaller woman. The two swayed together for a moment, then Juanita pushed her away and jumped up to go make another batch of meat.

  Jace arrived home just as the second helpings were being served. Nell sang out a hello to him and shoved plates of adobada and tortillas at him.

  Cassidy cornered her nephew as he was gulping down the meal with great enjoyment. “Spill it, Jace. How did you work it so the dokk alfar rushed to our rescue in Faerie?”

  Jace looked more interested in the food than the adventure. “I didn’t. I talked a little to the Fionn Cillian guy, but he didn’t promise anything. Then he comes back right before Marlo and I left, looking proud of himself. He said he found out that the territory Reid is from belongs to a rival of his, so he was happy to alert the dokk alfar in the area. He’d use any weapon, he said, to conquer his rival, even dokk alfar. From the way Cillian talks, though, any clan he doesn’t rule is his rival.” Jace shrugged. “He’s an arrogant bastard, but then, aren’t they all?”

  “Well, thank you.” Cassidy grabbed the scruff of Jace’s neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. “You made your auntie happy. And probably saved her life.”

  Jace looked surprised, then concerned. “Yeah? What exactly happened?”

  Cassidy spent the rest of the cookout filling Jace in on events. He looked sorry he missed them and muttered that it was the last time he ran boring errands for his father. Cassidy tried to mollify him by telling him he’d been key in getting Reid’s people in position in time to save Diego and Cassidy.

  Before Cassidy packed her overnight bag and got ready to ride back to Diego’s mother’s house for the night, Reid arrived.

  “I owe you a debt,” he said to Cassidy as she went out to the backyard to greet him. “I can never repay it. I will never make up for what I’ve done to you.”

  Reid looked more confident now, less beaten down, but shame still rested in his eyes.

  “You rescued Diego and me from the Fae,” Cassidy said. “And did that neat trick with the crowbar. What was that?”

  Reid shrugged, as though he’d not done anything spectacular. “I’m an iron master.”

  “And that means…?”

  “I can manipulate iron, make it do anything I want. Only in Faerie. I can’t seem to do the same here. Maybe that’s why I can teleport in the human world—perhaps my skill is manifesting in a different direction.”

  “You can make iron do anything you want?” Cassidy asked. “What a great skill to have against people who hate iron. I have the feeling that’s one reason the hoch alfar wanted you out in the first place.”

  Reid nodded. “That and they wanted my territory. I was the biggest obstacle in their way, so they destroyed my family and exiled me. And made certain I’d never make it back.”

  Even if Reid had figured out how to open the gate on the ley line, the Fae had tried to make sure he’d die in the attempt to return home. But Diego had sprung the trap instead.

  “So, why are you still here?” Cassidy asked. “You made it back to Faerie. You used your iron trick and scared away the Fae. You were home free.”

  Reid looked sad again. “I found that my family there is dead and gone, my friends too. The Fae killed them all. I spoke with the new leader for a time and I realized—there’s nothing left there for me. I’ve been gone too long.”

  The door to Nell’s house slammed open, and Reid looked next door. His face changed, softening, the arrogance and anger fading.

  Cassidy followed his gaze and saw Peigi emerging from the house, her head high, her long-legged stride taking her toward the cookout and party.

  “I see,” Cassidy said. “Well, what do you know?”

  Reid kept watching Peigi. “I can’t explain it. I don’t care. She needs me.”

  “She does.” Cassidy put her hand on Reid’s shoulder. “And you need her.” For the first time, she put her arms around her enemy and drew him close. “Goddess go with you, Stuart Reid.” She stepped back and smiled at him. “Now, go get her.”

  The most beautiful sight in the world was Cassidy’s ass bent over the engine of Diego’s car in his mother’s driveway, her shorts baring her long legs as she stretched to tighten something.

  Xavier turned from watching what she was doing and looked up at Diego. “You look terrible,” he said. “Should you be out of bed?”

  Diego resisted the urge to scratch his arm in its sling, and he was suddenly aware of every abrasion on his body. The deep claw marks he liked, though, because they represented Cassidy trying to free him.

  Cassidy looked over her shoulder at Diego. Grease on a nose had never looked so sexy before.

  “I heard your engine ticking when I drove your car back here last night,” she said. “I thought I’d give you a tune-up.”

  “She’s amazing.” Xavier gazed at Cassidy with great respect. “She’s working on my truck next.”

  “Shifters have learned to be good with cars,” Cassidy said, bending over the engine again. Diego could watch her all day.

  Xavier looked from Diego to Cassidy and back again. He wiped off his good hand and tossed down the rag. “Just remembered, I need to go help Mamita with… that thing. You know… that thing… Right.” He turned aw
ay and faded into the house.

  “He’s transparent,” Cassidy said. She gave whatever bolt she was turning one last twist and straightened. “Want to start it up?”

  Diego slid into the driver’s seat, found his keys already in the ignition, and cranked on the engine. The T-Bird purred.

  Cassidy gave him a thumbs-up, then slammed the hood closed and snatched up the rag Xavier had dropped. Diego listened to the engine a few more seconds, then shut it off and climbed painfully out of the car.

  “You have grease on your nose,” Diego said.

  “Oh.” Cassidy swiped at it.

  “You’re making it worse. Let me.”

  Diego took a handkerchief out of his pocket and put it, plus what was wrapped in it, into Cassidy’s hand. Cassidy started when she felt the weight on her palm and looked at him in surprise.

  “Open it,” he said.

  Cassidy peeled back the handkerchief, stared at the little velvet box resting in her hand, and then opened it.

  The diamonds inside caught on the intense sunshine, throwing little spangles onto Cassidy’s fingers. Her eyes widened. “What is this?”

  Diego plucked the ring from the box as she held it and started to slide the ring onto her finger.

  Cassidy jerked away. “My hands are dirty.”

  “You won’t hurt it.” Diego gently took her hand again. “This is the human way, Cass. Instead of mate-claims, mating frenzy, and mate bonds, we say, Here’s a diamond ring. Will you marry me?”

  “Marry.” She looked up at him in near panic. “But Shifters can’t marry…”

  Diego slid the ring firmly onto her finger. “I don’t give a damn about human rules. We’ll do this the Shifter way if we have to. You said you wanted to reject my mate-claim, right? Well, I talked to Eric this morning, and he told me that even if a female rejects a mate-claim, the male can make it again. So I’m making it. I’ll keep on making it until you tell me yes.”

  Cassidy’s breath caught. “Diego, I told you why I said no. To protect you. So you won’t have to give up your career…”

  Diego took her hand and held it. “Listen to me. I talked for a long time with your brother, and then with Mamita and Xav. I can still do my job. If my captain gets bent out of shape because I’m with a Shifter and fires me, Eric has offered to let me become one of his trackers. I can help him out when he has to deal with humans. To be honest, I’ve lost faith in the human system that lets good Shifters be killed and violent drug runners escape without pursuit. Maybe I can do what I’m meant to do, but on the Shifter side instead.”