by Cecilia Lane
Finally, with no end of the trail in sight, she caved. “Why did you decide to become an agent? Weren’t you worried that all your shifter brethren would think you’re an interfering traitor?”
Chase’s steps faltered. “Interfering traitor. Wow. Even the gang I was undercover with for a time didn’t think the Agency was that bad.”
“Well, it’s true. It seems like all we hear about are new regulations on what spells we can perform and how strong our potions can be. I imagine it’s the same with shifters.“ Ari shrugged.
“Largely, no. At least not with the ones I knew before I was recruited. They all saw upholding paranormal law as an honorable endeavor.”
“Before you were recruited… Does that mean you don’t see them anymore? Did they not like your law abiding stance after all?” She eyed him for a reaction and was rewarded with a grimace.
“They’re all gone, now. It was a small clan of bears, just my family, and two others. A vampire with the erroneous belief that solely drinking shifter blood would make him as strong as one of the ancients drained them all.”
It was Ari’s turn to stumble. “Oh. Oh, Chase. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring something like that up.”
He rolled his shoulders. “It’s in the past. I don’t see why I should hide something that happened for the convenience of others.”
“That’s not what I… I didn’t want you to…” Her cheeks flushed red.
“It’s fine. I understand. People get uncomfortable around any mention of death, especially when it’s tragic. I won’t deny what happened to make them feel better. I joined the Arcane Affairs Agency to get revenge on the bastard that broke the laws and killed my clan.”
“And did you?”
“It wasn’t me personally, but yes. The vampire responsible was brought to justice.”
“Good.”
They lapsed back into silence. Ari mulled over the information he’d given her. It revealed something of the inner workings of Chase. He was raised to believe the Arcane Affairs Agency was a thing of absolute good, while she was raised with the opposite belief. Of course he would want to join after his clan had been wiped out. She knew what the drive for revenge felt like all too well.
She also feared she’d soon experience a loss like his. Demons were monsters and only wanted to destroy the mortal realm by making it as hellish as their own. They tricked and seduced innocents into summoning them for their nefarious deeds and had no respect for life. As much as she didn’t want to think about losing her mother, she was having difficulty putting aside the thought as the hours wore on.
“What made you decide to run a resort?”
Ari started at the question. It was unexpected. The question was harmless enough, but hearing it from the silent bear that only spoke because she prodded him surprised her. She killed any thrill of excitement before it could grow into anything else. He was probably just completing a preliminary line of questioning for taking her into custody. “I didn’t decide. It was what I was told to do.“
She tried to ignore his questioning look. It was only fair that she answer, though. He’d given her a response. “The Wren coven has owned the land since settlers came out this way. We’ve defended it from squatters, many of them shifters by the way, so it’s not like you’re entirely innocent in the conflict. It’s been passed down until my grandmother decided to make a bit of cash off those who wanted to go camping but still have modern conveniences. Witches might dislike shifters but we don’t dislike money.”
“Grandmother Wren sounds pragmatic.”
“I don’t remember her much. She was a hard woman. From the stories my mother told us, she loved two things: money and power. Money was made off the resort, but power came from her magic. She never married, but had three girls with three different men. Mama was the only one to stick it out. She never liked to talk about why her sisters left.”
Chase only grunted and Ari let the quiet envelop her again. She knew magic ran in her blood and felt pride over her line. They were strong witches. But she couldn’t help but think that placing so much value in magical strength had hurt generations of the family. Her own aunts weren’t present in her life for reasons she didn’t know. Her sister, too, had turned her back on their coven.
She didn’t have much time to consider her place and if she mirrored her mother’s choice to stay and if she would eventually lose contact with some of her future children. Chase’s hand shot out and stopped her from tripping over a branch that had fallen in the middle of the trail.
His nostrils flared. “The sulphur scent is getting stronger.”
They picked up speed and hurried toward the resort.
Chapter Seven
The roofs of the cabins poked through the trees before they reached the buildings. Chase again held up his hand to stop Ari, but it was to completely halt instead of protecting her from tripping. He expected to come off the trail near his own cabin and her home, not the opposite side of the resort. It meant more walking through the woods and more snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves from Ariadne. She’d alert any threat to their presence immediately.
“We’re near the main cabins,” he said flatly.
She nodded. “It’s where the trail starts. We crossed over a few to get to the cave last night, but since we didn’t go traipsing through the woods, this was the one to lead us home.”
There wasn’t any movement or sound from the resort. The eerie silence of the woods extended to the human habitation. He was wary of the silence. No noise of children running around or adults walking could only mean dire things for the guests.
He glanced to Ari nearly bouncing on her toes at his side. It’d be dire consequences for her if any of the mortals were harmed. The Agency didn’t come down easily on paranormals who factored into the deaths of regular humans. The way he saw it, the only chance she stood of keeping her freedom was if no one was harmed before they banished the demon. He hadn’t smelled the lie when she told her story of accidentally summoning the beast, but good liars could hide it. He just couldn’t believe she would lie so well. If it had been accidental and if no one was injured, then no crime had been committed.
If she wouldn’t be labeled a criminal and locked away, then there would be nothing to keep him apart from her… His bear rumbled in approval.
He found himself staring into her grey eyes. A storm brewed inside them and he was ready to be swept away in it, but only if she were prepared as well. Chase shook his head to clear his mind. He couldn’t imagine the possibilities of her curves pressing into him again, not when her name needed to be cleared and the world protected. Ariadne was just too damn distracting.
“Is there a way around? We should avoid advertising ourselves if possible.”
“There’s a smaller one that runs behind the cabins so we don’t need to cross through the middle of everything.”
He jerked his chin forward for her to lead the way.
She picked her way off the trail and Chase fought the urge to sling her over his shoulder and carry her to the next clear path. But she had evidently picked up some skills in the quiet walk back to the resort. She didn’t crunch on piles of dead leaves and avoided the larger and noisier branches. Soon, they were back on a clear, though small and not often used, trail.
Chase looked ahead and behind them. The spot between his shoulder blades prickled with his unease. He tested the air and listened hard, but couldn’t pick out any nearby threat. Still, he only let Ari lead him on after he pulled his gun from his holster.
They passed the first cabin without a hint of trouble. He listened desperately for any noise from inside the cabins. Nothing reached his ears. There was no chatter, no running water, no crackling of an active fireplace. The silence of the woods extended into the resort.
The trail followed the gentle curve of the cabins. They started to round the curve and near the second cabin when Ari stopped dead in her tracks.
“What the—?” She jerked her attention to between th
e cabins.
Chase focused where she looked. He could see two people walking. His brows furrowed together; he hadn’t heard or scented the pair. The woman had her mouth open and the man smiled broadly at her. They were completely frozen in mid-step.
Ari swore and scampered off between the buildings before Chase could grab hold of her. He hurried after her but came to a stop almost as quickly as she did. They could see the rest of the open space between cabins from their spot not quite in the open. They were still too exposed for Chase’s comfort.
The entire clearing was filled with frozen people. No one moved or even breathed, as far as he could tell. Their hearts were still. They were a resort of statues.
“Oh, Goddess,” Ari moaned quietly.
It had to be the demon’s work. The scent of sulphur wasn’t any stronger there than it had been coming off the trail, but it was still more recent than near the cave. The only other witch he knew about was Ari’s mother, and he doubted she’d have turned the family resort into a bunch of frozen figures on a whim.
Ari took a cautious step toward the closest person. There was no movement at all when she reached out and touched the man’s arm. “They’re still warm.”
Chase frowned. He had expected them to all be victims. If they were simply frozen, then maybe they stood a chance of survival if he and Ari could defeat the demon.
It was an increasingly big if. She needed the trinket to hold the demon in place so it wouldn’t get into any further mischief while they searched out the spell book. He hoped with the spell in hand she could banish the thing once and for all. But first, they needed the book.
His bear rumbled a warning in his head just as he caught a new scent. Decay. It was sickly sweet and too strong to be a past scent. Chattering reached his ears as soon as he identified the scent. He grabbed Ari’s shoulder and hauled her back between the cabins.
Lesser demons poured out from under the deck of the first cabin. Their sharp little teeth bit at the empty air in a warning and hint to what they would do to living and moving flesh. Bits of their skin hung off and the smell of their rot stung his nose.
“Chase…” Ari backed further into the alley between the cabins.
He kicked at the first large rat that approached him and sent the beast flying over the pack. But the rest didn’t show any sign of compassion for their soaring companion and still stalked toward their targets.
“Chase, look.” Ari put her hand on his arm. He tried to shake her off, but she held tight.
The scent of her fear filling his nose tore his attention away from the approaching pack at his front. Glancing back, he saw what had her worried. Another pack of the lesser demons surged from behind them. They were trapped.
He was certain the compressed salt bullets would do them in, but he didn’t have enough to put down the entire pack. His bear growled and rushed forward to batter at his tenuous control. It would gladly tear into the little beasts as it had done before, not only to put them down but also to protect their mate.
A second demon approached and he stomped hard on its back. It hissed and went up in smoke under his foot. His bear roared with approval.
There wasn’t much to be done in his human form. He needed to shift to protect Ari and get her away from the lesser demons. The greater demon could already have been alerted and be on its way.
Chase flicked the safety on his gun and shoved it into the holster at his waist. His fingers worked quickly to untangle it. He stuffed the holstered gun into Ari’s hands. The shift had already started to transform him, fur sprouting from his pores. His bones cracked painfully but he ignored it. He needed to give her instructions before he allowed his bear to take complete control of his form.
“Run to my cabin. Not yours. It could be a trap. I’ll be right on your heels.”
She nodded as he dropped to four paws.
Ariadne pivoted and ran. She kicked out at the rats that tried to bite at her ankles. Chase, true to his word, followed right behind her. He swiped large, cruel claws at any beast that dared to get in his way and snapped slavering jaws around those that tried to get near her.
The packs thinned out as she dodged between the rotting bodies of the demons. Many of them slunk back under the cabins, unwilling to meet the smoky end of their more foolish companions.
Her heart thudded in her chest as she spilled out of the alley and raced toward the trail. Her breath burned in her throat and lungs, but she pressed on. Ari ignored the stitch in her side and swore she’d get in better shape if she could only survive the day.
Chase’s growls and snaps behind her urged her forward. As long as she heard the bear forcing his way through the woods, she felt safe and didn’t need to look back. Back meant danger. Forward meant hope.
The greater demon had to be near. It hadn’t liked losing the little beasts before and it certainly wouldn’t like losing them again. It wouldn’t put them in unnecessary danger unless it had a goal in mind.
Her legs ached with each step. Ari nearly cried for joy when the main cabins flew by and the long stretch between them and the fringes of the resort was all that remained of their mad dash. The rough chatter of the lesser demons faded away and soon the only sound was the blood pumping in her veins and her feet slapping on the trail.
The path spat them out right in front of Chase’s cabin. She went to the front door but the big brown streak of bear rushed past her. She hopped over a low bush and followed close behind.
His transformation ripped through him again as he loped forward. Four paws became two legs and two arms. Thick fur receded until only skin was left. By the time he was up the stairs of his deck, Chase had returned to a fully human shape. He jerked his head for her to enter the sliding glass door and he followed behind, shutting the glass and turning the blinds closed as soon as they were both inside.
“Didn’t have the key for the front,” he explained, his chest heaving.
Ari only nodded. Chase was out of breath, but she felt like she would have a heart attack at any moment. She slumped down on the couch and tried to catch her breath.
“Did they get you at all? Any bites?” He kneeled in front of her.
She pushed her hair out of her face and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She struggled to keep her eyes raised. The man was utterly gorgeous with the slight sheen of sweat on his naked skin. “No. No bites.”
“Good. Let’s take care of your hand. Then we’ll get the weapons from my SUV and see what lies inside your house.”
She blinked at him before the words registered. Her thoughts were slowly catching up to her. He was entirely unphased by their tear through the woods. She imagined Agency training must be wickedly intense for him to immediately have the next eight steps planned out. If it weren’t for him, she’d be getting gnawed on by the pack of lesser demons.
How many times would Chase Parker save her life? Too many, she predicted.
The brute had taken up an odd spot in her heart. She found herself comparing him to the few exes of her life and he was better that any of them. His hair was shinier and softer and a richer brown. Even his beard was better groomed, just a hair longer than a five o’clock shadow and delightfully scratchy against her skin. Their bodies didn’t even compare to the insane muscles that shifted under his skin. On top of his physical perfection, he was incredibly selfless. He’d volunteered to help fight a demon and save her mother.
Maybe she’d request he get a promotion when he finally slapped the handcuffs on her and took her to the Arcane Affairs Agency prison.
Chase rose from in front of her and disappeared into the bedroom. She could hear him moving around, but had no idea what he was up to. Her eyes slipped closed as she leaned back against the couch and waited.
“Got room in your pack for an extra set of clothes?”
She blinked at him again, looking from the soft shorts he handed her back to his face.
He gestured down to the jeans and tight shirt he’d thrown on when he stepped into
the bedroom. “In case I need to shift again and rip through these.”
Blushing, Ari stuffed the shorts into the pack that held her herbs and other supplies. There was still plenty of room for the items she intended to get from her home.
His next job was to doctor her hand. She winced as he peeled away the last layer of the wrapped shirt bandage. The cut was deeper than she thought she’d made. “Doesn’t look like you’ll need stitches. Those are a pain since you move your hand so much. I tore out countless before I had my first shift. There was the time I sliced my hand open falling out of a tree. Well, paw by then. But hand once I shifted. Raw knuckles from fighting, now that’s another pain. Especially when the bear side wouldn’t lend me a bit of strength to heal fast.”
He babbled on about his injuries as he cleaned and redressed the wound. Ari found herself concentrating more on his words than the pain. She squinted at him when he announced he was done. “You did that on purpose.”
He winked. “Distractions can help take away a bit of pain.” He turned serious again and put the holster back around his waist and checking the gun over. “I’m going to call the Agency and appraise them of the situation.”
She shrank into the couch. Let them know about her, he meant.
He swore and glared at his cell phone before she could sink deep into self-pity. “There’s no signal up here.”
She smiled weakly. “The mountains block it, mostly. Just use the cabin phone.”
Chase picked up the receiver and slammed it back down with a growl. He followed the line from the back of the phone to the wall. “Did you not pay your phone bill? There’s silence on the line. Not even a dial tone.”
“We’re up to date…” She moved across the room, ignoring the protest of her body, and picked up the receiver herself. There was silence, just as Chase said. She was about to set the receiver back in the cradle when the line crackled to life.
“Come to me, little witch.” The voice rasped.
Ari threw the phone away from her and jumped back. “It was the demon,” she whispered at Chase’s concern. “It wants me.”
