by A and E Kirk
A pack of wolves was following them by the time Leontes stopped in front of a sprawling main lodge ribboned with a wraparound porch. Warm lighting from the many windows bounced off the mist giving the house a halo effect. But there were no angels here.
“Stay close to me, but if the situation runs afoul, get the hell out of here,” Leontes said.
“What if they torture you?”
Leontes gave her a long look. “That I am used to.”
“Ha ha.”
The wolves circled the car, predatory growls rumbling the air. Someone opened the front door of the lodge, but wolves leapt onto their car and cut off Kiara’s line of sight. A writhing mass of canine bodies blanketed the vehicle. Claws scrapped against windows. Spittle splattered glass as wolves tried to snarl their way in. Kiara smelled their rabid hunger.
Leontes looked over his shoulder and shoved the gear in reverse.
“Wait!” Kiara peered at the crazed animals and bared her fangs. Their frenzy increased.
The wolves’ frothy mess of animalistic passions set Kiara’s skin tingling, yearning for liberation. The fervor of howls escalated.
Leontes gripped her arm. “No. There are too many.”
“Pa-leeze,” Kiara scoffed. “They’re cute and fluffy. We are going to be fast friends, because I’m faster.”
“You cannot shift,” Leontes said.
“No.” Her eyes sparkled a mischievous glint. “I can’t let them see me shift.”
“No. We will figure something else out.”
“I already did.”
Kiara slammed her feet into his chest and crashed through the window, rolled to her feet, and sprinted away.
“Catch me if you can!” she shouted before disappearing into the shadows, every wolf galloping in her wake.
CHAPTER 19
Shivering against the cold, a naked Kiara climbed up the tree next to the compound’s main building. The bark scraped her skin. She slipped through a third floor window, landing silently on the hardwood floor of a dimly lit bedroom and studied the sole occupant.
The man on the hospital bed was covered in so many bandages and casts that he resembled a mummy. Medical machines whirred and beeped. IVs dripped. What Kiara could see of the patient’s face was swollen, yellow and blue from freshly healing bruises.
She tiptoed to the closed door and touched the handle.
“I can’t leave my post,” said a man just on the other side.
Kiara jerked back her hand and thunked the heel to her forehead. Stupid. She had not been paying attention. She put a finger to her lips, silently shushing the unconscious man in the bed, and pressed herself against the wall. She could hear two heartbeats, smell the scent of two wolves reeking of anxiety that wafted through the cracks in the door.
“The runts got locked out of the compound somehow,” a woman said.
Runts. The youngsters still learning to deal with their shifting abilities. The ones who were supposed to stay confined inside the compound when it was so near the full moon. The ones Kiara had so easily led astray.
“They somehow got through the gates and are in the woods outside.”
“They’re not so feral that they wouldn’t come back in eventually,” the man said. “Have someone open the gates.”
“They’re jammed. There’s a group working on opening them, but we need all hands on deck to round up the runts before they get far enough to cause trouble with the locals.”
“It’s that damn vampire. They’re planning an attack. It’s a distraction.”
“Then there could be an ambush out there waiting for them. We should go.”
“And leave him? I don’t think Alpha would approve.”
While the two bickered, Kiara waited and resisted the urge to groan. One guard would be much easier to get past than two.
The warmth of the room was not enough to stop her shivering. The patient did not even have a sheet she could steal. She spied a full-length fur coat draped over the back of a chair and made a face. Like all fur coats, the skin and hair smelled like dead animal, but this one also reeked of a nauseating perfume.
She knew Leontes would be less than thrilled if she showed up naked since he had an aversion to such displays of skin, but the coat was so truly hideous he might prefer her birthday suit.
Kiara wandered over to the unconscious man and gingerly lifted bandages. Yellow and green pus filled ugly gashes. Some smooth cuts from blades, others ragged from claws. A faint black mist oozed from the wounds.
“Looks like someone made a sorceress angry,” Kiara whispered. “Or sorcerer. They have tempers, too. What’s that? Speak up. Ah, I’m very sorry to hear that, Mr. Black.”
“Wait!” the guard said. “I’m coming. But let’s get someone to cover.”
Frantic footsteps faded fast.
“Time to go!” Kiara blew the unconscious man a kiss and snatched up the coat. “I’ll take this hideous atrocity from your sight as a thank you. Sorry for your troubles, but with this gone, you’ll have one less.”
Kiara shuddered as she slipped it on. It was warm on her bare skin, but itchy. She gagged as she hugged it close and headed for the door, but suddenly stopped and turned.
“What’s that you say?” She frowned and marched back to the bed. “Okay, okay, Mr. Black. Oh, I see. No, I won’t let that happen.” She clapped her hands with glee, then rubbed them together a few times before lifting the bandages. “Hmmm, this isn’t good. I know you know, but now I know. And now I know you know I know you know. You know?”
After several moments of study, she poked at the wounds and said, “See ya!” and tiptoed out into the empty hallway, closing the door with great care to remain silent.
“I guess breaking and entering is kind of sexy,” said a loud voice.
CHAPTER 20
With a groan, Kiara banged her forehead against the door. “Not you. No, no, no. Go away.”
“Not a chance!” Roxy twirled an excited circle and punched the air.
Kiara growled and hurried down the hall. The replacement guards were coming, their footsteps close. The corridor was long and devoid of places to hide.
Alongside Kiara, Roxy skipped with happy abandon, her bouncing breasts threatening to pop out of her pentagram-decorated top that Roxy called a bra-lette. Kiara called it a bra-little because it did so little to cover Roxy’s abundant cleavage. Long, silver chains dripped from her bustline and clipped to the heavy belt on her curvaceous hips. The exaggerated swagger of Roxy’s walk jangled the jewelry in a loud, irritating, and distracting manner.
“You’re going to get me caught,” Kiara said.
Roxy waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, don’t be such a downer. You’re the only one who can see me.”
“Lucky me,” Kiara growled.
“I know. It’s a shame all the boys and girls can’t appreciate my glory.”
Kiara rolled her eyes. She wanted a long chat with the depraved depths of her mind that conjured Roxy.
Wavy hair started as bright violet, then ebbed down to a neon aqua blue before blending to green at the tips. Her lipstick glowed florescent red, the same color as the roses embroidered on the sheer, black lace robe always fluttering off her shoulders. The shorts were tattered, full of holes in the most embarrassing places, and so short they left way too much of her perky butt swinging in the breeze. Black garter belts attached to ripped lace stockings, which disappeared into black boots trimmed in the same screaming scarlet as her lips.
“Go away, go away, go away,” Kiara muttered as she rounded a corner.
“Do you smell that?” Roxy stopped and pointed at the red drops on the floor. “Blood.”
“I know.” Kiara looked over her shoulder and readjusted the gaping coat.
The footsteps had paused a moment, but now they were moving faster. Kiara feared they had caught on to her, probably after hearing stupid Roxy. Then she realized that was not possible.
“Quick, in here!” Roxy leaned next to a door.
&nb
sp; Kiara pushed her aside and slipped in. Another bedroom. No medical equipment. Roxy lounged on the only bed, stretching her arms over a pile of neatly folded clothes.
“Ah, yes.” Roxy buried her face in the fabric. “This is it.”
“This is what?” Kiara said.
She stepped toward her hallucination, pausing when her foot slid on something cold and wet. More blood. The trail led to a bathroom where a shower was running. Kiara’s eyes widened, heart jumping. The bathroom door was ajar, and she could clearly see a man inside the steamed glass of the shower.
“Roxy!” Kiara snapped.
“Hello?” the man called from the shower.
Kiara dropped on all fours and hid behind the bed.
Roxy smiled and continued to stretch like a satisfied feline. “I wanted to see if he’s as sexy as he smells. Let’s go check!” She swung off the bed.
Kiara army crawled for the exit, planning to escape into the hallway. Maybe Roxy would not follow her. But as Kiara reached for the door, floorboards creaked on the other side. There was a knock just as the handle turned. Kiara fell back, kicked off the wall, slid across the floor, and under the bed.
The door swung in, followed by a hesitant foot.
The shower door clicked open. “Who’s there?”
“Sorry, sir.” The guard shifted uncomfortably. “They captured a vampire intruder on the grounds.”
“Is it a female?” the man from the shower said.
Kiara’s eyes widened.
“No, sir. Male. But we believe there are more preparing to attack the grounds.”
“How many?” Water splashed Kiara’s cheeks as the man stepped into the bedroom. “Any casualties?”
“Take a gander!” Roxy appeared beside Kiara nudging her forward. “And tell me what he looks like! Describe every detail!”
Kiara covered her eyes.
“No assault, as of yet,” the guard said. “The vampire isn’t talking, but we haven’t interrogated him long. He’ll break and tell us everything. Just a matter of time. Alpha wants you at his side in the war room.”
“Huh.” The man’s feet disappeared back inside the bathroom.
Roxy elbowed Kiara. “Aw, you missed it!”
“Sir?” the guard’s voice carried a thread of alarm. “Alpha wants you in the war room now.”
“I’ll be there when I’m done.” A towel dropped to the floor. “A little privacy?”
“Uh, of course, ah, sir.” The guard backed out of the room and shut the door. “Ungrateful little brat. Doesn’t deserve any of this.”
Roxy raised brows at the fading mutterings. “Our naked hottie isn’t too popular. An outcast. Lonely for some lovin’. Let’s go keep him company!”
Roxy wiggled out and headed for the bathroom. Kiara grabbed at her ankles, but the vixen slipped free. Kiara scrambled out the other side and stayed low, still using the bed for cover. She pulled off the folded clothes Roxy had knocked over. It was all too big, but anything as a buffer between her and the coat would be welcome.
Roxy clung to the bathroom doorframe and peeked inside, a lecherous grin sliding onto her ruby lips.
“Ohhhh, yes,” she purred.
“Please, you can’t see anything!” Kiara hissed.
“Made you curious, though.” Roxy winked. “Come on, he’s naked. You’re naked. It was meant to be.”
Kiara pulled on a T-shirt with a low V-neck and smiled at the freshly laundered smell.
“Cut a girl a break,” Roxy groaned. “Let’s give him something worth howling to the moon about!”
Kiara threw aside the jeans. With no belt, they would never stay up. Instead, she stepped into the boxers, knotting the waist to keep them from falling. Kiara huffed and pursed her lips. Not exactly battle attire, but Leontes had been captured already and he had not smoothed things over. Since the shirt and boxers left her feeling exposed, she put the fur coat back on and readied to leave.
Roxy threw herself in front of the door. “We’ve got a visually confirmed hottie, wet and no doubt willing just a few hormones away. He’s got to be feeling frisky. You know, full moon on the brink and all. This is an offer we do not want to refuse!”
“Leontes is in trouble. Quit distracting me and go away.”
“You know I’m not that easy to get rid of.”
Kiara glared at Roxy, then closed her eyes and balled her fists. She focused on reality, hoping that would make her hallucination go away. Leontes’ life could depend on it.
“Okay, I’ll help.” Roxy held up one finger. “On one condition. Let’s take just one tiny peek. You know you want to. And it would make me sooooo happy. And cooperative.”
Kiara’s lips twisted. “Fine.”
Roxy squealed and danced past.
Kiara chewed her lip, leaned against the wall, inhaled a deep breath and took a quick look.
“That wasn’t long enough,” Roxy whined. “I hardly saw a thing. Go again. I promise. One decent look and we’re outta here.”
After another deep breath, Kiara looked again. Longer this time.
He had his back to her, his hands holding a bar of soap, which he slowly lathered over his neck and shoulders, under his arms, across his chest and stomach. His body glistened. Hot water and white soap bubbles trailed down smooth, tan skin. Muscles wet and coiling on his arms, across his back, and down lower to his—
Kiara tore her eyes away. Her breath was coming in short, heavy bursts, and she was suddenly overly warm in the horrid coat.
“Ohhh, yeah,” Roxy moaned, stretching out on the bed again. “That was deeeelicious. Yum in all the right places. And did you see his tattoo?”
“Yes. I mean no.”
“Oh, yes, you did,” Roxy teased. “Which means you also saw his cute, firm, and totally begging-for-me-to-bite-it butt!”
Kiara bolted for the door.
Out in the hallway Roxy laughed. “I would’ve helped, even if you hadn’t looked. Leontes is dreamy.”
“Be quiet.” Kiara twirled an anxious circle. “War room, war room, war room.”
“And think how grateful he’ll be at our rescuing him. He’d do anything I could get you to ask. Maybe that hug you’re dying for. Or something more intimate.”
“I can’t think with you talking!” Kiara swung the coat at her hallucination’s head.
Not that it helped.
“I’m providing motivation,” Roxy said. “Sure, Leontes is a cold fish, but that only means he’s got oodles of pent up desire just begging to be unleashed. And I fully intend to be there when he…” Roxy shimmied her shoulders and lowered her voice to sultry tones, “explodes with passion.”
“Shut up!” Kiara said. “He’s not like that!”
“Trust me.” The chains jangled as Roxy thrust her hip out and gave her butt cheek a saucy slap. “Every man is like that.”
“Grrr! Well, right now what he’s like is tortured! So you’d better help or go away! And quit making me shout or else—”
A thundering of feet came to a stop behind them.
Kiara whirled to face a hallway full of men, women, and wolves. The latter with hackles raised and fangs bared.
Roxy put a hand to her pouty red lips. “Whoops.”
“You idiot!” Kiara turned on Roxy.
But Roxy was not there. Just like Butch, she had ducked out when the going got tough.
Behind her, someone made a tsking sound of disappointment. “Don’t kid yourself, girl. The only idiot here is you.”
A man marched purposely toward her, an expression of blatant disdain on his arrogant features as he literally looked down his nose at her with eyes that sparkled cold and pale as chipped ice. Dirty blond hair was slicked back, hugging his scalp like a helmet, and a silver earring dangled from one ear.
He wore a black military uniform from the Victorian Era. That of a high-ranking officer based on the abundance of buttons and brass, medals, gold brocade, and tassels draped about. A wool cape hung off his shoulders, falling to behind hi
s knees. The sword strapped to his hip bounced against his shiny boots as he strode swiftly, holding a pewter wine goblet in his left hand.
“Who are you?” Kiara asked.
“I am Nero, your only chance of saving Leontes. Now move, soldier. They’re killing him!”
Kiara looked at the crowd of shifters. “There are a dozen or more. Too many.”
“Won’t even break a sweat.” He flashed a manic grin, took a swig from the goblet before tossing it over his shoulder, then ripped the sword from its scabbard and ran toward the pack yelling, “Charge!”
CHAPTER 21
Leontes had thought the wolves would be calmer if he let them capture him. But as his head snapped back from another right hook to the jaw, he realized he might have miscalculated his approach.
Getting to the great hall had been easy. Two beefy brutes were happy to escort Leontes to the large room. Open to second floor balconies, it boasted walls of exposed logs, thick rugs, and comfortable furniture. At either end of the room, medieval weapons were mounted above fireplaces that roared with flames.
Staying coherent long enough to negotiate peace would pose the biggest problem. The handcuffs of glorified glowsticks infused with UV light burned his wrists. His skin healed almost immediately only to burn again. It was sapping his strength, calling forth his distracting need for blood.
Alpha stood at the head of a long table of dark wood cluttered with papers, file folders, maps, cell phones, and laptops. Werewolves crowded the room. Mostly high-level pack members, except for the two muscle-bound thugs using Leontes as a punching bag. They entertained themselves by opening cuts on his face, watching them quickly heal then using their fists to reopen them again.
Alpha looked pained at the latest blow to Leontes’ face. The leader of the shifters was in his late fifties, but even though his sandy brown hair had greyed somewhat since Leontes had seen him last, his well-preserved looks reflected more mid-forties. Tonight, however, his face was pinched taut with tension and dark circles cradled suspicious hazel eyes.
