by L. A. Banks
“Sasha, I—”
“No, let me finish,” she said, feeling her face become warmer and warmer the more she thought about it. “This is much worse than the whole Santa Claus analogy, which doesn’t even begin to do it justice. No, Hunter, you guys owe me big-time for this because I have to tell some virginal young bride-to-be that her fiancé gets really, really horny when there’s a full moon out and needs to go break-your-back primal, so, sorry, he’ll cheat.”
“Oh, man, Sasha, my brother really does love her, even though he has a Werewolf compulsion that Shadows don’t own. You make it sound so. ”
“Real? The word ‘real’ comes to mind, Hunter.” She folded her arms over her chest but kept looking straight ahead as he drove faster. “Upper and lower canines presented, eyes glowing gold, and this dude will be howling on his wedding night and then need a half a side of raw beef to come down or go into priapism. Or he’ll have to be in a Werewolf brothel every twenty-eight days when the moon goes full.”
“Damn. ,” Hunter muttered. “I know, but you make it sound so. ”
“Not one affair, not one little indiscretion that maybe a marriage counselor can fix,” Sasha railed on without missing a beat.
“But it’s a biological issue—a. a. disability.” Hunter glanced at Sasha and then looked straight ahead. “Baby. he’s a Werewolf, for crying out loud.”
“I’m not arguing his pedigree; I’m just stating the facts that I have to convey to a normal human chick who is crazy in love.”
“Well, I know Shogun loves her, too,” Hunter said with triumph in his voice.
“Did you hear what I said?” Sasha turned in her seat and waited until Hunter glanced at her. “The operative words are ‘crazy in love.’ It’s the kind of thing that gets a man poisoned at his own dinner table or stabbed to death in his sleep. He may be a Werewolf, but she’s a woman, so hey.”
“You think she’d go there?” Hunter quickly turned and looked at Sasha, who casually shrugged and turned away to stare out of the window.
“You never know what a person will do. I don’t think she’ll leave him, no matter what he says. And he’s not going to be able to fix this. We are talking about a pattern, Hunter. A lifestyle or whatever. Call it what you want to, but it’s gonna be brutal, emotionally, on the bride. So, unless that fragile lotus flower of a girl can land on her feet after a hard wolf toss or take a running body slam on a hard rollover—”
“Okay, okay, we owe you,” Hunter said, gripping the wheel.
“Oh, maaaan, what am I going to tell that poor girl?” Sasha let her head drop into her hands. “Now that supernaturals are coming out of the closet, there should be a new instructional-video industry that springs up for human education.”
“Now that would beat chasing gargoyles and Vampires at night,” Hunter said, swallowing a smile.
Sasha slapped his arm and then they both laughed.
“Be serious, Hunter.”
“I am being serious.. I’m not shy.”
“You are incorrigible.”
Hunter waggled his eyebrows as he turned into the Chens’ block. “You don’t know the half of it. Moon’s up. I’m showered. Hungry. The subject matter is—”
“Get out of the Jeep, man,” Sasha said, shoving Hunter’s arm.
“It all begins with wolf play, an aggressive push, a bite, and—”
“You are so getting on my nerves,” she said, trying not to laugh, and then leaped out of the vehicle.
As Hunter turned off the engine, she listened, trying not to smile at his low, subsonic chuckles. He was right on her heels.
Walking away from him quickly, she rang the bell to the apartment that was above the now-locked storefront. This detour made no sense. But she knew Hunter well enough to know that, he was trying to tidy up loose ends before potentially going into battle. That whole honor and my-pledge-is-my-bond thing sounded good on paper but was sometimes a royal pain in the ass. Like now, when they had much more important things to deal with. Besides, this was Hunter’s pledge, not hers, but he’d gotten her all mixed up in the whole convoluted mess!
“Hi,” she said, waving through the window at Amy with her best pasted-on smile. Sasha tried not to fidget as Amy managed the locks and opened the door.
But rather than invite them in, Amy rushed out of the house, grabbing Sasha by an arm.
“I am so glad you and Shogun’s brother are here. We must hurry.”
Sasha stumbled forward, amazed at the strength the petite girl suddenly wielded. “Okay, okay, but what’s going on?”
“I’ll explain as we drive,” Amy said. “Is that your Jeep?”
“Yes,” Hunter replied, frowning, rounding the vehicle, and opening the door.
“You have brought weapons?” Amy asked, quickly climbing in.
Sasha slammed the door as Hunter piled in behind the steering wheel. “Okay, now you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
Amy held her head in her hands. “I can still see with Lady Jung Suk’s eyes. When Shogun’s demon Were Leopard aunt possessed my body, even though you killed her, some of her powers stayed with me. I wasn’t sure of it until the moon rose and Shogun sensed a presence while we were out in the park. He was trying to explain something to me about our marriage and then he stopped speaking and stood.” Amy looked up at Hunter and Sasha with tear-filled eyes. “I saw it, too,” she added in a quiet tone. “It was clear, like water moving past us. He brought me home and said to stay there and be safe. and not to tell my parents. I did as he’d asked. But then he left to draw it away from us.”
“Do you know where my brother went?” Hunter said, gunning the engine and careening away from the curb.
“At first I wasn’t sure, because he never told me. Then as I sat in the kitchen trying to have some tea to calm down. I stared into my cup, thinking, and I saw.” Amy looked between Sasha and Hunter. “It’s the new house you have built your business in over in the French Quarter. He went to a shed there.”
“Weapons,” Sasha said, glancing at Hunter. “We have heavier artillery there than a normal gun shop and it’s closer and has easier access than the Naval Air Station or the base.”
“No doubt he saw what we saw in New Hampshire,” Hunter replied in a low rumble. “Let’s just hope we’re not too late.”
“Has the call to arms gone out?” Sir Rodney walked back and forth along the windowed wall of his war room, looking out of the leaded beveled glass with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Sent spell-protected by way of the cauldrons of Forte Inverness to every Seelie Fae magick advisor of the nobles throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland—and all of those present here in the Americas.” Garth looked at his fellow advisors, waiting on the rail-thin Rupert to set down food and drink for the monarchs. Garth’s suspicious gaze fell upon Queen Cerridwen. “And, Your Majesty, should we send a missive to your northern stronghold so that you may deploy some of your resources, as well?”
Queen Cerridwen gave Garth an icy glare but responded with cool regard. “Trust me, dear Garth, the moment the first Unseelie head rolled, my resources were fully deployed—and my people are already aware that we are allied with the Seelie on this. The greater question is, are your people equally aware of this union?”
Hunter stopped short as he turned off the engine. “Amy shouldn’t be here, if Shogun has cornered prey.”
“Damn,” Sasha muttered, and then turned around to stare at Amy. “Half of me wants to tell you to wait here; the other half of me knows that’s how the innocent always gets killed in a horror movie.”
“Then that settles it: I’m going with you guys,” Amy said, nervously glancing between Hunter and Sasha.
“All right, but stay on our heels just in case,” Sasha said, pulling a handheld Uzi out from under the tarp on the backseat.
Hunter had already begun walking toward the house, stuffing a Glock 9mm in his waistband. Sasha hung back with Amy, visually casing the house for signs of a struggle or
forced entry while Hunter issued a low, quiet howl to summon Shogun so that they didn’t startle him.
Signaling with two fingers that they should move forward around the back, Hunter ducked low under the windows and hustled down the side yard. After a few seconds, Sasha and Amy mimicked his steps and then waited. The back door was ajar. The shed door was open and the guts of the alarm system were a jumble of spaghetti wire.
“Shogun!” Hunter called out, leaning against the wall next to the door frame and then opening the door with a quick side kick.
“Brother?” Shogun called out.
Sasha and Hunter slumped with relief.
“Shogun, I was worried!” Amy shouted, and bolted past Sasha and Hunter.
Hunter closed his eyes and banged the back of his head against the wall. “My brother will never forgive us for this, you know that, right?”
Sasha nodded and placed the safety on her weapon. “Yeah. But what can you do?”
Hunter stood at the back door as Sasha trudged up the steps. By the time they got into the darkened house, Amy was hugging Shogun in the middle of the kitchen floor.
“I was so worried,” she murmured, burying her face against Shogun’s neck. But he looked over the top of her head at Hunter and then Sasha with an accusatory glare.
“Did she tell you I was chasing something unseen and dangerous?” Shogun held Amy protectively for a moment and then stepped away from her to confront Hunter.
“Yes, Brother.”
“Then why the hell is she here!”
Stepping between the potential combatants, Sasha intervened. “Because I was trying to talk to Amy and she began telling us about the invisible entity while driving—and there was no time to double back.”
It was a stretch, but Sasha watched Shogun pace away from Hunter and rub the nape of his neck.
“My apologies,” Shogun finally said, trying to coax away his distended upper and lower canines, albeit his eyes still glowed gold in the darkness.
“Blame it on the moon, man,” Hunter said, trying to appear casual, but Sasha noticed that the muscles in his shoulders had bulked in preparation for a wolf fight.
Quiet strangled the room for a few moments and then Shogun suddenly looked at Sasha and spoke with unexpected candor.
“Did you and Amy have a chance to speak?”
“Uh. ” Sasha dragged her fingers through her hair.
“Yes,” Amy said quickly. “Of course.”
“And you’re still here?” Shogun stared at Amy for a few moments and then walked deeper into the kitchen’s shadows beyond the light of the moon.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I love you.” Amy walked toward the darkness, but Shogun held up both hands.
“Don’t,” he murmured. “What Sasha told you is true. Go home to your parents’ house, especially tonight.”
“Come on,” Sasha said quietly, guilt lacerating her soul. She so wished she’d had a chance to speak to Amy, but like everything else in her life, things had happened too quickly. “I’ll take you back while Hunter and Shogun go after that thing that cruised you. I can catch up with them later by jumping the shadows.”
Amy shook her head no and continued advancing on Shogun. But there was something in her walk, something in the attitude that seemed to possess her entire body that put the three wolves in the room on high alert.
“I want to hunt it with you,” Amy said in a slightly deeper voice than normal. “I want to help you kill it.” She stopped in a pool of moonlight and stretched like a lazy feline would stretch in the sun.
Hunter and Sasha backed up, glancing at Shogun for a sign of what he wanted to do. But Shogun quickly sidestepped Amy, looking at them for answers they didn’t have.
“Amy,” Sasha said quickly. “When we talked, you said you’ve been feeling a lot of the old things you felt when Lady Jung Suk was in your body, right?” Sasha looked at Shogun, hoping he’d catch her cues.
“Yes,” Amy said, closing her eyes and rubbing her arms as though to warm herself. “And I could see with her telepathy tonight. I never could do that before.”
“Are you cold?” Shogun asked, and then turned quickly to Sasha and Hunter. “The entity that once inhabited her was a snow leopard, used to the Tibetan climate. Maybe—”
“I’m not cold or possessed,” Amy said with a sultry chuckle. “Every full moon since Lady Jung Suk temporarily entered my body, whatever was left after you killed her seemed to get a little stronger. and I said nothing because it frightened me so. First it was just an amazing rush of energy. Then the next moon left me with clarity like I’ve never known—keen senses. Now, I really can’t say what is happening to me.” Amy opened her eyes and her once-dark irises were a deep, shimmering gold like that of an Amur big cat.
“That’s not supposed to happen!” Shogun said, rounding Amy to stand by Sasha and Hunter. He glanced at them both. “Is it?”
Amy tilted her head, questioning.
“Your eyes. ,” Sasha murmured in awe.
“What about them?” Amy looked from one face to another.
“She cannot go home to her parents like this,” Hunter said, keeping his distance.
“Definitely not,” Shogun said, racing between the counter and the door arch while rubbing the nape of his neck. “She also cannot be left alone. Who knows what she might do? And this might have been caused by whatever I was chasing—”
“We were chasing, Brother.” Hunter held Shogun’s gaze. “It cruised Sasha and me up at the cabin in New Hampshire. Sasha and I went after it, but it also got away. Something that elusive is potentially demon in nature. Your aunt was infected.. We don’t know how bad a situation this could truly be, man.”
“You all speak of me as though I’m not here in the room with you,” Amy said in a too-calm tone.
The three wolves kept their eyes on her as she moved around the kitchen.
“I’m hungry. Very hungry.” Amy opened the refrigerator door and then slammed it shut. “There’s nothing here. I have to go out and hunt.”
“Not a good idea,” Shogun said carefully. “I will hunt for you and bring you back something—”
“Raw,” Amy said, slowly licking her bottom lip as she captured Shogun’s gaze and held it.
Shogun swallowed hard. “Absolutely.”
“Brother. be advised, she could be infected.” Hunter turned and placed a palm in the center of Shogun’s chest. “You need more information.”
“Maybe we should bring her to the Sidhe, where they have, uhm, facilities and a full magick team. and maybe Silver Hawk can come, too, so he can divine whether or not she’s been infected?” Sasha looked between Hunter and Shogun. “But she’s gotta be quarantined in case. the less desirable aspects of Lady Jung Suk are also with her.”
“All right,” Amy said calmly with a dangerous smile. “I like the castle. But I don’t think anything is wrong with me beyond wishing that I was alone with Shogun right now.”
CHAPTER 11
Amy bolted from the Jeep almost before Hunter had turned off the engine. He’d driven the vehicle as far as it could go off road, following a narrow gravel trail that terminated in mud and underbrush. Shogun was out like a shot behind her, leaving Hunter and Sasha no choice but to grab the weapons that had been stashed in the vehicle and make a mad dash to follow them.
Thankfully, Amy stopped at a quarter mile, bent over, and began panting. Shogun skidded to a halt beside her but then whirled on Hunter and Sasha when he saw them bringing up the rear with their guns drawn.
“You will not shoot her like she’s some animal!”
“Whoa, whoa,” Sasha said, tilting her weapon up in a defensive position and holding it so that her finger was nowhere near a trigger. “This is for the bad guys. The demons out there or Vamps, remember?”
Hunter nodded but only slowly tilted his weapon away from Amy.
“All right, then don’t forget that Amy is not a demon or a Vamp. She’s just going through a first moon,” Shogun argued, begi
nning to pace between Amy and a nearby tree. “Who among us hasn’t experienced that first rush?”
“I’m sorry I ran,” Amy said, starting to hyperventilate. “I feel like I’m burning up. I needed air.” She blotted her damp forehead with the back of her arm. “I feel like I’m suffocating.”
Hunter approached Shogun cautiously. “Stand downwind from her,” he said quietly. “You cannot watch her go through this while in your wolf. You must keep your head and stay in your human, if you’re going to help her through this.”
Shogun nodded and stepped back but watched Amy with tears in his eyes as she began to shred her clothes.
“She’s beginning to change, Shogun.” Sasha bit her lip and looked away for a moment to steady her emotions. “It’s not a normal transformation like one of us born into our wolf. She’s going into her Were form but turning like a person bitten. and virally infected.”
“No!” Shogun shouted, clasping his skull between his palms. “Give her a chance. See if it’s full-blown. Doc has meds. Silver Hawk has chants!” He spun on Hunter. “How many times have you and I looked down the barrel of a gun when everyone thought we were lost to the virus?”
Hunter held up a hand to stay Sasha’s clear shot. “We will wait. We will watch. But if it becomes inevitable. Brother, we will do what we must so that your conscience can be clear.”
“If you murder her and I allow it, my conscience will never be clear, nor will my soul rest.”
Amy’s wail broke the standoff, jerking everyone’s attention toward her rapidly changing form. Standing before them half-nude and shuddering, she tore off her shoes and jeans, shredding the fabric of her bra and panties, and then dropped to the ground in agony. Shogun rushed forward, but Hunter caught him by the arm.
“For the sake of your entire pack, your clan, your federation, you cannot.”
A feral scream made Shogun close his eyes. “But she’s in such agony.”
