by C. T. Adams
Seized with a fit of coughing, Rick rolled onto his side, choking out the blood that had been trapped inside his windpipe as he healed. He spit it out on the ground as he forced himself to his knees.
“Josette?” His voice sounded ragged. It hurt to speak after all the screaming he’d done. They’d healed the gravest wounds only and from the exhaustion plain on both their faces, he knew why. His body would have to take care of the minor injuries. “The bad guys?”
“Dead.” That, at least, was good news. Because right now, none of the good guys were in any condition to fight.
Rick shifted positions until he was sitting upright. He was sitting in a puddle, not that it made any difference. He was soaked to the skin anyway. Lucas would throw a fit about him letting the playing cards in his rear pocket get wet, but it was too late now, and Rick honestly didn’t care. He’d done his best every step of the way. His best just simply hadn’t been good enough.
“I got the cell phone. It doesn’t seem to be damaged.” Josette lowered herself onto the ground beside him. Her body made a squelching sound as it sank into the mud, but he could see she was too sad and weary to care. “We’ll need to report in.”
“I’ll do it.” Raven took the phone from her hand and rose slowly to his feet. His expression was deceptively calm, his voice controlled, but there was a deep burning rage in those dark eyes. Rick could feel its searing heat. It was the type of anger that had led more than one agent to cross the fine line between justice and vengeance. Rick watched the other man stalk off, phone in hand. Staring at Ramirez’s retreating back he wanted to hate him. He couldn’t. Raven was a good man. If he had to lose Josette to someone else, at least it was someone he could respect. But damn it hurt. He almost wished they’d let him die. Almost.
Gathering his courage and strength he turned to face the woman he loved with as blank an expression as he could manage.
“Rick, we need to talk.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, pitched so that Ramirez wouldn’t be able to hear. She was giving him that courtesy at least, telling him directly and privately instead of in front of the man who’d be taking his place in her heart and her bed.
He turned to meet her gaze, saw the sadness and regret in her eyes. He watched her struggle to find the right words. It was too much. He couldn’t bear to hear it. So he broke the tension instead. “What’s to talk about?” He fought to hide the pain that threatened to tear him apart. “You’re mated. Congratulations. He seems to be a great guy.”
He watched in shock as tears filled her eyes. She stared at him for an eternal second, then rose in a blur of motion. Before he could do anything, before he could even think of what to do, she was gone.
“Josette—” he called, but she didn’t answer. He struggled to his feet, only to find Raven standing in front of him, blocking his way.
“You are such a fucking idiot, Johnson.”
JOSETTE RACED AWAY from the wreckage, tears coming to her eyes. Well, now he knew, and there wasn’t a thing she could do to turn his heart back to her. Either he would be angry or he’d walk away, as most Sazi did when a mating occurred. Yes, there were cases of love overcoming a mating bond, but it didn’t happen often.
Trouble was, she didn’t want Raven—had never really loved him. Oh, she had hoped for the longest time, and she watched every vision that had him in it. She’d waited for the day they’d meet and happily showed up in Chicago, just on the chance. But the timing hadn’t been right. In Chicago, he’d been too torn up over the loss of a beautiful owl shifter named Emma, who had been killed by one of the spiders, in just as senseless a death as Ellen had endured.
The bond was there. The potential for a future was there. She knew from her visions that they could be happy. It wouldn’t be perfect, but what is? But that had been before she knew Rick was still alive. That she hadn’t seen him, had been given no sense of his presence, still astounded her.
Even from here, she could feel Raven’s anger beat at Rick like blows from a baseball bat as he spoke. His every word dripped scorn to her sensitive ears. It was sweet that he’d realized so quickly what was happening, but then, he was Charles’s ever-so-great grandson. He understood that things happened strangely sometimes. “That is one of the most amazing women I’ve ever met. She is crazy in love with you, was ready to die for you, but you’re just throwing her away.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Rick’s frustrated fury threatened to boil over. He lurched to his feet, his power flaring until steam rose from the wet ground. Anger and hate roiled into the air until even the rain stank of it. “It’s not my fault she’s mated to you!”
Frantic to get away from what could erupt into a full-fledged war between them, she turned to cat form and crawled among the roots of a massive tree. She needed to think and part of her wanted to just run away. If they fought, she honestly didn’t know what would happen. Would the mating ties overcome her heart? Would she spring to Raven’s defense, instead of the man she loved?
“It’s not her fault either, asshole.” Raven leaned forward until his face was a bare inch away from Rick’s. Rick jerked back from the electric power of the other man’s magic. “She may be mated to me, but you’re the one she’s in love with. It’s obvious from the way she looks at you, the way she says your name. And you’re ready to just walk away. Doesn’t she mean anything to you?”
“She means everything to me, damn it! Why in the hell do you think I’m willing to go?” Rick clenched his fists at his sides.
“Then tell her! Just because she’s mated doesn’t mean she’s going to choose me. Open your eyes. Amber’s mated to my father, but she married Charles. Tatya chose Lucas. If you want the woman, then fight for her damn it! Don’t just roll over and give up. She deserves better than that.” Raven’s eyes blazed, but his voice was controlled. “If you don’t love her, don’t want her, fine. Tell me now. But know that this is your only chance. If you don’t go after her…right here, right now…I will. I will happily claim her and I will do everything in my power to make her happy.”
There was a long pause, and she could feel Rick’s eyes boring into her fur. His voice was cold and harsh when he spoke to the taller man. “Get out of my way.”
Rick strode toward her haven with purpose, only slowing to a stop when he was a few feet away. The rain was starting again. Not heavy yet, but steady, individual drops plopping against her body as he stared down at her makeshift shelter. The rain and wind swept away scents before he could even notice them, but there was no mistaking the misery in his posture. She turned her body so she didn’t have to look as he said whatever he was going to.
“I’m sorry.” He squatted down so that he could look her in the eyes, but she turned her head away, unable to believe him after the anger she’d smelled and felt. “I just assumed.” He sighed. “I mean, he’s your mate, Josette.”
“Don’t care.” Her words were muffled by dirt and fur as she desperately faced away from him.
“I love you,” Rick said the words softly, but it felt like he put every ounce of feeling and intensity he possessed into those three words, pushing the emotions at her to break through the barrier of power she had raised in defense. “I always have. I don’t want to lose you again.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” She turned to face him then, her eyes tear-filled even though cats weren’t supposed to be able to cry. She could feel her whiskers drooping with the misery she was feeling.
Rick seemed unsure what to say. His face moved through a variety of expressions and his scent along with them. Finally, he said the only thing that mattered. “I love you and I’m so incredibly sorry. I just couldn’t believe you’d give up a true mating for someone who deserted you and made you suffer every day for a century.”
He crept forward on muddy knees until he was inches away. Slowly, gently, he reached forward, stroking the soft fur of her head and back with his left hand as he scratched the sensitive skin of her jawline with his right. “I love you, Joset
te. Ma chère,” he whispered the words again into the soft fur of her ears. Closing her eyes, she reveled in the scent of his skin, in the emotions that washed over her.
“I love you, too,” she whispered the words. “Even if you are an idiot.” She nipped at the soft skin of his wrist and he jerked back his hand quickly.
“Gee thanks.” He gave a dry chuckle as he rubbed the tiny bleeding marks. “I have to say you do wonders for my self-esteem.”
She raised her chin with what little pride she could muster. “You’ll get over it. Besides, you deserved it.”
There was no arguing with that, so he just shrugged. Then, he changed the subject. “We’d better get back.”
He reached inside the root ball and pulled her out into the cool night. She expected him to put her down, but he didn’t. Instead, he carried her back to the scene of the wreck. It felt right, good, to purr against his chest, to scrape fur and whiskers against his jaw.
Rick picked his way carefully across the wet, uneven ground, making sure of his footing. Raven sat waiting, tired and bedraggled. Josette’s purse sat at his feet. He looked up, face drawn, eyes hollow. “How do you feel about another train trip?” he asked Josette. “There’s no other chance to get you to Florida on time.”
“If it’s the fastest way to get there, I’m all for it,” Rick answered.
“It is. Nobody else is stupid enough to try to fly in this weather, and we’re not even sure exactly where we are.” He stood. “But we passed railroad tracks running east-west not too far back. You can catch the next freight train in to Albuquerque. I’m supposed to stay here and do a basic cleanup, then head back to the Simmons place to do a thorough investigation.” He bent down to pick up Josette’s purse, which he passed over to Rick. When he spoke his tone was polite and utterly neutral. There was no hint of the warmth or friendship that had marked their relationship earlier. Rick understood. If their positions had been reversed he wasn’t sure he could be even that calm.
“The phone’s in the bag, along with her identification. As soon as two of you hit Albuquerque you’re to call my father. He’s arranging a commercial flight to Daytona Beach.”
“How are the other seers holding up?” Josette asked the question hesitantly. He could feel the tension vibrating in her body. Her mate was in pain and she might well be putting him in more. A part of her wanted, needed, to go comfort him. But she couldn’t, and she knew it. She’d made her choice.
“They’ve stabilized.” It wasn’t an answer, but it was information she needed. Then Raven actually looked at her. Until that moment he’d refused to meet her eyes. “Amber called, too. She told me to pass on the word when she couldn’t reach your cell. Your idea bought us until the moon rises tomorrow night. She explained the rest of it, too.” He paused for a long moment and then sighed heavily. “I don’t know if the mating’s mutual. But if it is—I understand what will happen. I’m okay with it, I suppose. It’s not like either of us have a choice. I just wish I had more to offer you. With the situation down here, I don’t know how good of care I’ll be taking of myself for the next day.”
RICK STARED AT the other man for a long moment. If things were different, this was a man who he’d have had a real friendship with. But things were what they were. Josie would always come between them, whether they liked it or not. It was just a fact. But that didn’t keep him from asking. “Are you sure you’ll be all right dealing with this?” He gestured at the scattered wreckage and the dead bodies that littered the ground.
“I’ve handled worse.” There was a hint of steel in the words. “I’ll call in a few people. My mom lives just south of here. Some of her tribe from Alaska are visiting. They can be very discreet.”
“It’s not that, it’s just—” Rick tried to find a way to say what he was thinking without insulting the other man. Unfortunately diplomacy wasn’t his best thing—as he’d proven so admirably with Josette moments before. Still, he had to try. He’d been burned out before. He remembered how it felt. It had taken him decades of peace, quiet, and solitude to recover. Even now he wasn’t the same. If it wasn’t for Josette he’d still be retired. He could feel Raven’s weariness, his rage. The job hadn’t broken him, but he was only a hair’s breadth away from it. “Will anyone on the council get on your case for jumping off medical leave?”
Perhaps Rick was projecting, because Raven seemed to understand what he was trying to convey. “I’ll manage. I always do.” He brushed a stray hair back from his forehead with a weary hand. “But do me a favor. Get her to Daytona safely. Save my grandfather.”
Chapter Nineteen
WAITING WAS HARD. They sat in a makeshift shelter of rocks and scrub oak a few yards from the railroad tracks. A westbound Amtrak had sped by not more than a half hour before, but so far there had been nothing going east.
Josette was back in human form. This time she wore a black jogging suit over a black sports bra. She liked the T-shirts with their clever sayings, but she was getting damned tired of being cold. She was too exhausted to expend energy to keep herself warm when a simple change of clothes could do the trick. It seemed odd to her that the wreck that had destroyed the Volvo hadn’t put so much as a scratch on the luggage. She nearly laughed when the first thought that popped into her mind was a stock report: sell Volvo, buy Samsonite.
Rick was pacing again, in part to keep warm, but mostly because he couldn’t stand not to. She didn’t remember him being this keyed up all the time before. On the other hand, there hadn’t been people trying to kill them back when the two of them had been living in Illinois. That sort of thing did tend to make one a little nervous.
“So, Ahmad and the snakes want you dead—” he started, but she interrupted him.
“I’m not sure Ahmad is working with these snakes.” He raised his brows, so she amended. “Don’t get me wrong. He does want me dead. But I don’t think I can assume anymore that they’re in this together. Wrong kind of snakes.”
“He is the council representative for the reptiles, Josette. All the reptiles, not just the cobras. Wouldn’t he at least know about all this?”
“He is their representative, yes. But I’ve noticed he has a certain…prejudice. All of his personal guard, everyone in his immediate circle, is not only a snake, but a snake of Middle Eastern descent. The snakes that attacked me at my house and the hotel were either Central or South American. They spoke Spanish, and they were all breeds native to the new world.”
He felt his brow furrow and he squatted down beside her. “So you’re saying that you think two separate groups of snakes are trying to kill you?”
“Yes. I think the Central or South American snakes are one group. The humans are a separate group.”
“And Ahmad?”
“Who knows.” Josette raised her hands in a gesture of utter defeat. “I gave up trying to figure him out centuries ago. I deal with him when and how I must, but I can’t say I trust him or enjoy his company.”
Rick started to say something more about it, but stopped suddenly. Excitement filled his scent until the area bloomed in her nose like a citrus orchard. Eyes nearly glowing, he leaped to his fee. “Do you hear that?”
As she listened, a smile lit up her face. “It’s a train, and it’s heading east.”
“Thank God!” Rick reached down to help her to her feet.
Staring in the distance, she could see it heading around a curve. It was a freight train and a long one. It was moving at a steady clip, the various cars swaying rhythmically along the rails. There were probably a dozen flat cars behind the engine, each piled with a double high stacking container like the one she’d ridden on to Albuquerque—was it only yesterday? Next came three or four tank cars and several boxcars.
“The fourth boxcar is empty.”
“How can you tell?”
“There’s less weight in it, so it’s moving differently.” He sounded absolutely certain, but she couldn’t tell the difference.
“I’ll jump on first and get the doo
r open. Then you can toss in your purse and jump in after.”
“I just hope the conductor doesn’t catch us.”
Rick’s face sobered. “Good point.” He looked up and down the line. “There are some trees up there, right before the curve. If we hurry, we can get in position.”
They’d have to hurry all right. The train was moving toward them faster than she’d originally thought. But, if they timed it right, the engine would be around the corner and out of sight when they climbed on board. Of course, that assumed nothing went wrong. Josette slid off her flip-flops, stuffing them into the bag and forcing it closed. She’d rather risk cutting her feet than have the silly things slow her down. They were worse than useless for running.
They made it, but it wasn’t easy. Sprinting full out with a purse on her arm was awkward, and made her feel both girly and foolish. But there was no help for it. She needed the phone and her ID, and there were no pockets in her outfit.
Rick wasn’t in much better shape. His too-tight jeans and too-small sneakers made it hard for him to move as well as he normally would. Still, he managed to get there ahead of her. He ran next to the train, gravel crunching beneath his feet. With a perfectly timed jump, he grabbed on to the ladder. Moving along the narrow metal rim had been an exercise in dexterity that had Josette’s heart in her throat. But he managed to reach the heavy latch, open the sliding door, and swing himself inside.
It was her turn. There was no time to waste, no time to think. She ran. When she was parallel to the open door she tossed the bag in. Rick appeared at the door. Holding on to something inside with his left arm, he leaned out with his right arm extended.
“Come on. Jump! I’ve got you.”
She jumped, grabbing onto his arm with both of hers. He caught her, swinging her inside to safety.
She collapsed onto the floor, breathing hard from both exertion and nervousness. Her feet were bruised and cut. A nasty shard of brown glass from what had once been a beer bottle had embedded itself in her heel. Hissing in pain, she pulled it free and tossed it out the open door.
