In a flash of static and a rush of energy, the familiar flicker of the shift washed over her skin as her body undulated, stretched, and erupted into her Kodiak bear. With a growl, she fell to all four paws and shook her brown furry body enthusiastically. Reveling in the buzzing energy of the shift, Marianna lumbered into the woods and lifted her snout to breathe in the multitude of scents that filled the air.
Pine. Snow. Wood burning from a fireplace somewhere on the lake. Dirt.
A low satisfied growl rumbled in her throat as she took in each scent. She could smell things in her human form, but nothing like this, and perhaps it took not having the heightened sense of smell to appreciate it. It was as if every scent was ten times stronger, and somehow, each encapsulated separately from the others. She stood on her hind legs, pointed her black-tipped snout to the air, and took in another deep breath.
A new scent captured her attention as a low menacing growl rumbled from behind her.
Tramp.
Marianna dropped to all fours and turned to see Tramp hunched low, hackles raised, and snarling ferociously. The dog growled, baring his mouthful of sharp teeth, and in that moment, she had no doubt he would attack. Marianna stood still, not wanting to frighten him more than she already had. She whispered the ancient language, Verto, and in a blink, shifted back into her human form.
“Hey, buddy,” she said with a smile. The dog whined, backed away, and shifted his weight nervously from paw to paw. She extended her hand and let him sniff it, to assure him that it was her indeed. It only took a sniff or two before the dog jumped up and licked her in the face happily.
As she ruffled the dog’s ears the way he loved, she noticed that extra ripple in her energy signature again.
“Hang on, Tramp. Stop jumping on me for a second.” Marianna pushed the dog down gently and closed her eyes, focusing on the unfamiliar signature that pulsed and throbbed, like a heartbeat. It was separate from hers, but linked as well. She intensified her focus and detected not one, but two, distinct signatures.
They were faint and muffled… as if buried or underwater… or…
Her eyes shifted with a tingling snap to her clan form as she discovered the source of the signatures, and all of her breath rushed from her lungs.
Marianna placed two shaking hands on her lower belly.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Oh my God… I’m pregnant.”
Laughing through tears, she rubbed her stomach and closed her eyes again, wanting to listen and feel those beautiful new signatures. Twins. It had to be twins.
“Pregnant?” She laughed again, and her thoughts went immediately to Pete. Would he share her enthusiasm? He’d already had so many changes, so much to deal with, would he be as excited as she was?
The cold hand of doubt crawled up her back as the sound of Tramp growling again captured her attention. However, before Marianna could ask the dog what was wrong, Artimus’s voice tumbled over her shoulder.
“That’s something that can be easily remedied.”
Marianna spun around and came face-to-face with Artimus, Hayden, and Daniella, a former guardian for the prince who’d defected to the Purists.
“You’ve been a bad girl, Marianna. Hiding from us like this.” He inched closer. “We’ve been scanning for your energy signature for several weeks. Hayden had almost given up hope of finding you, so imagine how pleased he was when we stumbled upon it this morning.”
Tramp started barking at the top of his lungs as Marianna backed away slowly with one hand on her belly. Well, so much for one quick shift not doing any harm.
Pete was going to kill her if they made it out alive.
“It’s too late, Artimus.” Marianna looked at the three. Fear gripped her heart as she glanced toward the cabin. She couldn’t let them get to Pete—he wouldn’t stand a chance against them. “I’m already pregnant, so I guess you’ll have to find another girl for Hayden.”
Tramp barked incessantly and stepped protectively in front of Marianna.
“As I said,” he remarked as he grinned and flicked an irritated glance at the dog, “that can be remedied.” He snapped his fingers. “Hayden! Daniella!”
The two advanced toward her, but she kept backing off and shook her head. She could visualize herself away, but where would she go? Dante? Her mother? Artimus would follow her wherever she went and going to her family would only put their lives at risk. She’d figure this one out on her own.
“I’m already mated, Artimus.” She slipped as she retreated. “The train has left the station.”
“Your human plaything and that abomination growing in your womb can be easily eliminated.” His eyes shifted into the glowing black eyes of his clan, and a low growl rumbled from his throat. “Don’t even think about fighting with me or running because you’ll lose. I’m over two hundred years old, and I could tear you to shreds, so be a good girl and come with us.”
Tramp continued barking and snarling, but what happened next, happened in a split second.
The dog launched himself at Artimus. Tramp sank his teeth into his arm. Artimus screamed with rage and pain as he grabbed the dog and flung him like a rag doll across the clearing. Tramp slammed into the tree with a yelp and fell in a motionless heap, his blood staining the snow.
“No!” Tears filled Marianna’s eyes, and rage flashed through her. “You bastard.”
The air filled with static as Hayden exploded into an enormous grizzly bear, and Daniella roared to life as a formidable tiger. Artimus, eyes glowing black as coal with two beasts behind him, stalked her.
“Let’s not make this messy,” Artimus hissed.
Marianna was about to shift into her clan form and take her chances when she heard Pete’s voice.
“Marianna,” he screamed as he tore out the back door of the cabin. Pete took the steps in one leap with his gun drawn. Wearing only his jeans he barreled toward them through the snow. “Get out of the way, Marianna!”
The last thing she saw before Artimus grabbed her and visualized them both away was a snarling tiger leaping toward Pete with paws outstretched.
***
Barking. That fucking dog was barking his head off outside, and through the fog of sleep, Pete’s instinct was to snuggle up to Marianna and bemoan Tramp’s poor timing—but she was gone. His hand slipped over the smooth sheet, still warm from where her soft, curvy body had slept.
Pete lifted his head and looked around the empty room. He vaguely recalled her saying she was using the bathroom, but that seemed like an awfully long time ago.
“Marianna?” he called out, but was met only with the dog’s barking.
In fact, Tramp’s barking persisted, frantic and fierce. That dog never barked like that—ever. Pete threw back the covers and grabbed his jeans from the chair by the bed and pulled them on.
I can’t let them get to Pete. Her frightened but determined voice flickered into his mind, sending sheer panic and dread flashing through him.
The binding powder had worn off.
Pete grabbed his gun from under his pillow and ran barefoot to the back door as the barking stopped. He busted open the door, jumped the steps, and landed in the snow, but he couldn’t feel the cold. He couldn’t feel anything except the desperate need to protect her, and when he saw Marianna cornered by Artimus, a towering grizzly bear, and a fucking tiger—every protective instinct took over.
He would kill them all.
Human. Animal. Amoveo. It didn’t matter. He didn’t care. They were going to die if they laid a hand on his Marianna. Breathless, muscles straining, Pete aimed his gun at Artimus. “Get out of the way, Marianna!”
The air around her shimmered and rippled like heat coming off pavement. Artimus grabbed her with a smirk of triumph, as Marianna looked him in the eye and vanished from sight.
“No,” Pete bellowed as he watched the only woman he ever loved disappear into thin air. Pete squeezed off two shots as the massive tiger snarled and leaped toward him.
Both shots hit
their mark, and the beast roared in pain and surprise as it dropped into the snow, skidding to a halt and thrashing at Pete’s feet. Moments later, the tiger shimmered and shifted into a bleeding and pissed off woman. Swearing like a sailor and clutching her bleeding limbs, she glared at Pete through glowing orange eyes. Still trying to catch his breath, Pete snatched the binding powder vial from the pocket of his jeans and blew the rest in her face.
“I hope you fucking choke,” he spat.
He watched as she sputtered, coughed, and winced in pain from the gunshot wounds in her arm and leg. A sense of satisfaction came over him as he saw her realize her powers were gone. Her eyes flickered and shifted to normal, light brown human eyes full of confusion.
“What—what the hell?” She looked around frantically.
“Those are some nice friends you’ve got. They pulled their little disappearing act and left you behind.” He stuffed the empty vial back in his pocket and pointed the gun at her head. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, sweetheart, that stuff you inhaled just snuffed out your Amoveo powers. You’re stuck in your human form, so I wouldn’t try anything funny, or I’ll add another hole.” He cocked the gun. “Got it?”
The woman nodded furiously and winced as even that movement brought her pain.
He kept the gun pointed at her. “What’s your name?”
“Daniella Trejada,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Where did they take her?” A whimpering sound to his left captured his attention, interrupting his interrogation. “Don’t move.”
“Is that a joke?” she spat. “I’m bleeding like a stuck pig.”
Ignoring her, Pete moved cautiously toward the tree line and swore loudly when he saw Tramp lying in blood-soaked snow. The dog lifted his head and whined as Pete approached.
“Hey buddy,” Pete said in soothing tones. He squatted down and stroked the dog’s head gently as he ran his hands over his back.
“I can’t help you find her, if you let me bleed to death,” Daniella yelled.
“Priorities.” Pete inspected Tramp’s injuries. “You get help after the dog.”
There was swelling along Tramp’s ribs and a large gash on his back from where he hit the tree. With as much care as he could muster, Pete picked him up and carried him into the cabin. He placed the dog on the couch and covered him with a blanket before he grabbed two scarves off the coatrack and went to retrieve the woman.
Pete knelt in the snow next to Daniella, whose color was all but gone from her skin. “If I don’t get you inside soon, you’re going to get frostbite, and I think you’re going into shock.” He knelt and inspected the gunshot wounds. “Not that I really give a crap what happens to you, but I need you to tell me where they’ve taken Marianna.”
“I’m not telling you shit,” she seethed.
“Yes, you are.” Pete grabbed her arm, which put pressure on her wound and had her howling in pain. He leaned close, and his voice dropped to a threatening tone. “If anything happens to Marianna, you’re going to wish that I killed you.”
He released her abruptly. Daniella winced and let out a cry of pain as Pete moved her leg to look at the wound in her thigh. He didn’t like inflicting pain on anyone, especially a woman, but this broad was complicit in Marianna’s abduction, so all bets were off.
“It looks like both bullets passed through cleanly.” He tied the scarves in makeshift tourniquets on her arm and leg. “That should slow the bleeding, but you’ll need an Amoveo healer. I can’t take you to a hospital. There’ll be too many questions since it’s a gunshot wound.”
Pete stuck his gun in the waistband of his jeans, grabbed her by her uninjured arm, and pulled her to her feet. Grunting in pain, she put her weight on her good leg and leaned onto Pete. He brought her into the cabin and dropped her onto the couch, which was no longer occupied by Tramp.
“What the hell?” Pete said as he picked up the bloodstained blanket and looked around the small cabin. “Tramp?”
He looked in the bedroom and around the rest of the cabin, but the dog was nowhere. Hands on his hips, Pete searched with genuine bewilderment. The dog was gone.
“How the hell did he get out of here without me seeing him?”
“Lose something?” Daniella asked weakly as she elevated her wounded leg onto the sofa.
“He is not lost.”
The unfamiliar baritone resonated through the cabin.
“What the fuck?” Pete drew his gun and swung it toward the voice. Heart racing and gripping the gun for dear life, he pointed it at the large man who appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of the dining table with his arms folded over his chest.
“I said—he is not lost.” The man’s voice rumbled through Pete’s bones. “I am not a shifter, like her,” he said, sparing a glance at Daniella. “And before you ask, no, I am not a vampire either.”
“Since it’s daylight, I figured that out for myself.” Pete didn’t look at Daniella, but based on her silence, he figured she was as surprised as he was. He adjusted his stance and tightened his grip on the gun. “Start telling me who and what you are and why the hell you’re here, or I’m going to blow your fucking head off.”
A grin cracked his face, and his eyes glowed red. “Now, is that any way to speak to your father?”
Chapter 12
A tsunami of static electricity swamped her, and the bright shimmer of the morning sun on the snow was swiftly replaced by the harsh glare of fluorescent lighting. Furious and terrified by the last glimpse she had of Pete facing down the tiger, Marianna struggled violently against Artimus’s iron grip, but it was no use.
She was outmatched by his age and his size.
“Stop fighting me, Marianna,” he growled. “It’s futile and boring me.”
His black eyes gleamed with pure disdain. Thick, meaty hands squeezed her arms tighter, but she refused to cry out and give him satisfaction. He held her against his barrel chest, but she struggled, wanting to keep some kind of distance between them, but to no avail.
Marianna looked around the room, trying to get her bearings. They were in a hallway with white walls and fluorescent lighting, which reminded her of a hospital. She took in as much of the surrounding area as she could, hoping she might figure out where the hell he’d taken her. She had to keep her wits about her. Losing it now would only hasten whatever plan they had in mind for her and her babies.
Babies. Artimus was going to kill her babies.
She had to get away. Instinctively, Marianna reached out to find the imprinted path to Pete and the cabin, but she was met with an impenetrable barrier. Her eyes snapped to their clan form as she concentrated, but still… nothing.
“As I said”—a satisfied grin cracked Artimus’s bearded face—“trying to visualize yourself back to your human lover is a waste of time on two counts. First, as you’ve confirmed, you can’t use our particular form of travel, and if you try to shift, you’ll find the same thing blocking your path.” He leaned close, his beard scraping her cheek, and whispered into her ear. “And secondly, that human is dead.”
“No.” She shook her head furiously. “I don’t believe you.”
“Belief has nothing to do with it,” he said flatly. “Your lover is dead. You saw Daniella pounce on him, and we know that no human is a match for one of us. She’s probably eating him for breakfast as we speak.”
Tears filled her eyes as the weight of her situation settled over her, and Artimus’s words ran through her mind. Could it be true? Was Pete really dead? She had seen Daniella leap on him, but Pete had his gun, and like he always said, the Amoveo are many things, but bulletproof isn’t one of them.
“We’ll see,” Marianna said through a shaky breath.
She glanced at her surroundings again, hoping to find a way out or a sympathetic face, but the only one she found was Hayden’s. He smirked, his arms crossed over his chest, and shook his head as though she were the most pathetic creature he’d laid eyes on.
“The
re is no point in struggling,” Hayden said. “My father has placed a dampening field over the entire compound, which will prevent you from utilizing your powers of visualization and shifting.”
“Guess you’re not the hot shit you thought you were.” Marianna flicked her eyes from Hayden to Artimus and smirked. “Daddy doesn’t trust you enough to let you use your shifting abilities either?”
“Shut up,” Hayden spat. He grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head. She bit back a cry of pain as he tugged harder, forcing her to look at him while Artimus held her firmly in his grasp. “It’s you he doesn’t trust. You and the rest of the traitors.”
Hayden leaned in, his mouth hovering above hers. “But believe me, you’ll sing a different tune soon enough. I think you and I will get to know each other much better in the coming days.” He grabbed her chin and kissed her on the mouth firmly before releasing her. “Better get used to having the taste of me in your mouth.”
Marianna’s face heated with fury and revulsion at his touch. Her eyes shifted to their clan form and latched onto his.
“You should keep one thing in mind, Hayden,” she ground out. “I don’t swallow.”
Before he could reply, Marianna hauled off and spit in his smug face.
To her surprise, Artimus laughed and pulled her out of Hayden’s reach, but Artimus’s rescue came to a halt as he backhanded her across the face. Pain shot through her head. The force made her teeth rattle and her cheek throb. She’d never been hit before, and while the blow brought physical discomfort, it was more humiliating than she’d expected. Tears filled her eyes from the sting, but she refused to let them fall.
Through glowing bear eyes, she glared at Artimus, but he only grinned at her pain. “I don’t relish hitting women, but if you ever do anything like that again, I won’t stop with one slap. Are we clear?”
Marianna said nothing, but nodded her understanding.
“I think it’s time that we take you to see the good doctor.”
Artimus dragged her down the hallway with Hayden close behind, and they passed several doors along the way, all closed. There was a clan name above each door, and she cringed when she saw the one that read Bear Clan because she had a sinking suspicion that would be her room. Each door had a small, square window, but she wasn’t able to look inside.
Undone (The Amoveo Legend) Page 14
