Still, she knew she was right. And, as Cat’s face changed from harsh defiance to reluctant acceptance, she knew he knew it too.
“You really think this is best?” he asked looking at her.
“I know it is,” Diana said, “we can’t fight them alone. We’re going to need help.”
“Fine,” Cat said. The harsh tone of his voice had not changed but, all the same, he put the car in drive. He headed for the main road and began to drive towards the reservation.
He did not speak to Diana the rest of the drive. In fact, he did not even turn to look at her.
As they drove, she thought about what Cat had said. That she, Diana, simply didn’t like Amanda and that was the reason she was so keen to leave her and the Navajo boy in that cave with Charlie and Manaba.
Of course, she convinced herself that this was ridiculous. Just because she and Amanda had not exactly gotten along did not mean that she wanted the woman dead.
But, the more they drove, the more she thought about what had happened to her in that cave; about what might be happening to Amanda; the less she was convinced of this.
Diana had grudgingly come to accept that Amanda was not her enemy. Still, when she thought about the way Amanda had behaved to her and everyone else at the office, it was hard to see her as a friend.
As they passed the desert landscape, she looked over at Cat who was still determinately staring straight ahead at the road.
Diana tried to imagine how she would feel if Cat were trapped with Charlie and Manaba instead of Amanda. Wouldn’t she go back for him? Wouldn’t she rush back into the cave without thinking? She would feel like it, surely. Much more than she did now.
She would want, desperately to risk her life for Cat. Though, she was not nearly as eager to do that for Amanda or Ashkii.
As they neared the reservation, Diana could not help but wonder exactly what kind of person that made her…
Chapter Two
The back of the dark cave beside the salt lake sat moody and silent. Only the occasional dripping of flecks of water from the ceiling could be heard echoing against the walls.
Soon enough, a tiny beam of light cut through the black fog and the sounds of shuffling feet and at least one extremely irritated voice joined the dripping of the water.
“I don’t know how the hell you thought you were going to get away with this,” the angry voice said. It was deep but very feminine and carried with it an air of authority.
“You know they’ll start looking for us, don’t you?” as the shuffling feet came into the small strip of light, it was clear where the angry, authoritative voice was coming from.
The woman leading the group, though her hands were clasped behind her back, walked with a straight rigid back. Though she would occasionally pull the man holding her hands behind her, she looked irritated with him rather than afraid.
The boy behind her, on the other hand, looked terrified. His breathing was shallow and his eyes were wide. He kept looking towards the taller older man then shifting his eyes to the thin, pretty woman behind him.
“We’re counting on them coming for you, actually,” Charlie said with a smile. He shoved Amanda towards a boulder and grabbed ropes from the top of the rock.
“Are you ready for an entire army from both the Zuni and Navajo tribes to come after you as well?” Amanda asked snidely, even as Charlie bound her hands behind her back.
“You really think your brother will be patient enough for a coalition to form?” Charlie asked without looking up at her. All the same, a cocky smirk crossed his face when Amanda clearly had no answer for this.
“Manaba,” Charlie said once he was satisfied that Amanda was bound thoroughly. Manaba looked up from her position next to Ashkii who was still staring between her and Charlie with pale, frightened expression.
“I can trust you to take care of that one," Charlie inclined his head towards Ashkii who glared at him. Charlie seemed amused by this rather than frightened. "Meet me at the entrance when you're done."
Manaba nodded and she grasped the ropes as she watched Charlie go.
"Manaba," Ashkii whispered as soon as Charlie was out of sight. The girl made no acknowledgement. She simply continued to tie his hands together.
"Manaba, listen to me," the boy pleaded. Manaba still did not acknowledge him, but, neither did she tell him to be quiet. Ashkii seemed oddly encouraged by this. He pressed on.
"Manaba," he said, "you don't have to do this.”
“Don’t waste your breath,” Amanda said with an eye roll, “she’s not going to listen. She’s too far under Gomez’s thumb.”
“You can’t trust him,” Ashkii said to Manaba, completely ignoring Amanda’s protest. “As soon as he’s got what he wants, he’s going to turn on you.”
Manaba paused at that, one side of the rope still untied in her hands.
“You know it’s true,” Ashkii said pressing his advantage, “he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He never has.”
Manaba did not answer but looked down and finished tying the knot. She stood up and began to leave. As soon as she did, another faint whisper called her back.
“Manaba,” Ashkii said, “look at me.”
She stopped, her back rigid. She did not turn to him.
“Please. Just look at me once. Just give me that.”
Her shoulders moved up and a long breath almost like a sigh but not quite, emerged from her mouth. Finally, she turned around and looked straight into Ashkii’s eyes.
For one moment, both of them stood there staring at each other. Then, Manaba’s eyes widened as though she had been frightened by an image or a sound. She quickly moved her eyes away and turned back towards the entrance where Charlie was waiting for her.
“Are they secure?” he asked as soon as her footsteps could be heard. He did not turn to look at her but, instead, kept his eyes focused on the view just outside the cave.
“Yes,” Manaba said.
“Good,” he answered, “now we wait.”
Several moments passed, Manaba opened her mouth once, twice, three times as though to speak. Each time, instead of voicing her thoughts, she closed her mouth quickly and looked at the ground.
Eventually, she took another deep breath and appeared to steel herself.
“Charlie?” she asked in a clear but obviously forced tone.
“Yes?” Charlie asked.
“After...I mean, after we’ve ruined the prophecy…” she hesitated, “what happens to...to us?”
Charlie turned to her and gave her a quizzical but undeniably charming smile.
“What do you mean, what happens to us?” he asked, “we’ll be rich.”
“I...I know that” Manaba said, “I just…”
Charlie looked at her as she hesitated. Suddenly a look of comprehension crossed his face.
“Manaba,” he said gently, smiling at her, “have you been listening to that idiot out there?”
Manaba looked down and did not reply.
“You know he would tell you anything to get you to let him go,” Charlie said walking closer to her.
“I know, I just…” Manaba began but, before she could finish the thought, Charlie cupped her face in his hand.
“You’ve got to trust me on this, ok?” He asked pulling his face closer to hers. She bit her lip and seemed to hesitate. The longer she stood silent, the less charming the smile on Charlie’s face became. His hand moved to the back of her head and he grasped at her hair so hard that she gasped.
“You do trust me, right?” He asked.
“Ye-yes. I trust you,” she answered
“Good,” he said. He leaned down and kissed her gently. Though Manaba returned the kiss, she did not close her eyes.
Chapter Three
Diana and Cat pulled into the lot in front of the community building. He parked as quickly as he could and rushed towards the Elder’s center. He could hear Diana following behind him, but he didn’t turn around to look at her. For the first
time in the past forty-eight hours, Diana was far from the first thing on Cat’s mind.
He knew, logically, that he truly shouldn’t be as angry with her as he was. After all, he was the one who insisted on going to the Salt Lake to find her. He was the one who, in the end, had asked Amanda and Ashkii to go with him.
Still, he could not help but feel...if Diana had just trusted him. If she hadn’t gone with Charlie, none of this would have happened at all.
To his surprise, though, he decided, it really shouldn’t have been, as his father and several shifters met him as soon as he entered the reservation grounds.
“What the hell did you do?” Cat’s father barked at him by way of greeting. Cat could smell a whiff of alcohol on his father’s breath. Clearly nothing had changed since Cat had called his father a rotten drunk and ran from the reservation at the age of eighteen.
Cat ignored his father’s question and instead pushed past him.
“I need to speak to Grandfather,” Cat threw over his shoulder by way of explanation.
“What is she doing here?” Lonon asked. For the first time since exiting the car, Cat looked behind him to see Diana. She looked right back at him. Her hair was covered in dust from the salt lake. As were her clothes. She did not look the least bit like the goddess Cat knew her to be.
Despite this, her resilience, Cat could see, was still there in spades. She looked straight back at him and crossed her arms. The look told him clearly that she knew he was still angry with her, and that she still thought she was in the right.
She was correct on both counts. All the same, he knew ignoring both her and his father would not do any of them any good.
“We ran into a...problem at the salt lake,” he said.
“What kind of problem?” his father asked, “Where is Amanda?”
At this question, Cat turned away again. The prick of guilt for leaving his sister behind returned in full force. Rather than face it, he began to make his way to his grandfather’s pueblo once more.
He could hear his father and the others following close behind him. His father, indeed, was close on his heels.
“You’re not going to speak to your grandfather until you tell me what happened,” he insisted coming so close to Cat that he was nearly stepping on Cat’s feet. Cat reached the door to his grandfather’s small apartment. His father grabbed hold of Cat’s hand and pulled it away from the door handle.
Cat turned and tried to shake his Father’s grip but there was no use, it was much too strong.
“Where is my daughter?!” Lonon insisted now twisting Cat’s wrist in his hand. Finally, with a mighty force Cat brought his other hand up and punched his father’s cheek, knocking him to the ground.
He looked at his father for a moment, who stared right back at him wide-eyed. The others around them had gone silent.
Not a moment later, Cat heard the door to his grandfather’s Pueblo swing open. He did not need to turn around to realize who would be standing in the doorway.
“Catahassa,” he heard his grandfather’s voice. Slowly and very hesitantly, he turned around.
His grandfather was indeed, standing in the doorway staring down at Cat with eyes that were exactly the same color and shade of Amanda’s. The stab of guilt in his stomach increased tenfold.
“Did you go to the Salt Lake?” grandfather asked without moving from the doorway. Cat found that he could do nothing but nod.
“Then come in,” grandfather said, “all three of you.”
He looked to Cat’s father on the ground and then up to the place where, Cat assumed, Diana stood behind him.
Grandfather then turned and entered into the Pueblo.
Cat turned and looked at his father still sprawled on the ground a tiny trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
With another stab of guilt, Cat reached down and offered a hand to his father to help him up. Lonon looked back at his son and with a sharp glare, batted his hand away.
Cat nodded, realizing he should have expected as much. He turned away from his father once more and turned towards the pueblo.
He didn’t hear the pattering of Diana’s feet rushing to keep up with him until she appeared at his side.
“Cat,” she said, “what was that all about? What’s-”
“I see you have retrieved our Salt Mother,” Grandfather said cutting Diana off mid-sentence as she and Cat entered “but I do not see your sister who, I assume, went with you?”
At that, Cat saw, out of the corner of his eye, his father, stumble into the doorway, wiping the dust off of his pants. Cat tried his best to ignore him and focused instead on his grandfather.
“Grandfather, you need to call another meeting of the elders,” Cat said quickly finding his voice, “I know who the traitor is. He’s taken Amanda and…”
“And a boy from the Navajo tribe,” he turned around towards the table in the right-hand corner where three men were seated there. One he knew very well.
“My son, to be precise,” Tse looked at Cat with an accusing glare.
“What is he doing here?” Lonon asked fiercely. Out of the corner of his eye, Cat saw his father step forward.
“Almost as soon as the boy went missing,” grandfather began, “Tse contacted us to tell us what had happened.”
“And what did happen?” Lonon asked turning on Cat. Cat balled his hands into fists and fighting the urge to hit his father again, he opened his mouth to speak.
“It wasn’t his fault,” Diana said stepping towards Lonon from the back of the room, “I was the one who was stupid enough to leave. If Cat hadn’t come after me, I’d probably be dead.”
“We don’t know that,” Lonon spat back at Diana, “they wouldn’t have killed you until you could transform and even then-”
“But she can,” Cat said quietly, almost to himself. He hadn’t thought about the implications until now. He had been so focused on getting Diana out of there and then on retrieving Amanda that he hadn’t realized…
“What do you mean, she can?” Lonon asked fiercely, “your grandfather said she won’t be able to fully transform for months, if that!”
“I know! I know! But...I saw her. Out by the salt lake, she became the white cougar,” Cat said. A fire was slowly beginning to burn inside of him. He knew what Diana being able to transform meant. It meant that her training was complete. They could take her to the Salt Lake, she could bathe in the waters and the Zuni would be able to return to their homeland. No one would ever be able to take it from them again.
“It’s true,” Diana said when everyone else in the room seemed just as skeptical as Lonon, “I don’t know how I did it but...I did become a cougar. That’s partly how I was able to escape.”
“Impossible!” one of the Navajo boys next to Tse said. “The prophecy says that it will take at least two months…”
“Your prophecy,” grandfather interjected. “Our prophecy says no such thing.”
“So, if she is ready. According to your prophecy, then she can be taken to the Salt Lake. We can go and get my son,” Tse said. Unlike Lonon or the two young Navajo men with him, Tse did not look derisive or skeptical. When Cat looked at him, his eyes shone instead with the same fire Cat recognized burning inside his stomach.
“Perhaps,” grandfather said, “there is only one way to know for certain. Diana, come here.”
He beckoned Diana forward as Cat looked back at her and saw her hesitate before moving. Diana moved past him and he felt a sudden urge to take her hand or tap her shoulder to show her some small sign of comfort.
But, then he remembered Charlie. How Diana had chosen to go with him. And he remembered the reason Amanda was now stuck in a desolate cave awaiting an unknown fate. Instead, he looked away from her as she passed him, refusing to meet her gaze.
When he did turn back, Diana was facing his grandfather at the front of the room. It might have been Cat’s own guilty conscience talking but, he thought Diana looked just a little sadder, a little less resilient
than usual.
“Don’t worry, child,” grandfather said gently, “you’re safe here. Do you understand that?”
Diana nodded. Cat saw her look towards him out of the corner of her eye. He looked determinately away from her.
“I need to know how the transformation happened,” grandfather said, “when did it occur. Who was there? And what was in your mind.”
“I...well...Charlie and Manaba had been training me-”
“Charlie?” Tse asked cutting her off, “Charlie Gomez is the mole in your tribe?”
Grandfather put up a hand to silence him.
“Go on, Diana,” grandfather said a little more loudly than necessary, Tse sat back down in his seat.
“Anyway, when they...did what you did. The chanting...I was able to contact Cat. Or...see him. So, I started trying it on my own.”
“And you were successful?” grandfather turned to Cat. This question was clearly directed at him.
“We were able to communicate eventually,” Cat admitted, “that’s how I knew where she was.”
He felt heat race up into the side of his face when he remembered what that initial communication between him and Diana had consisted of. He hoped that his grandfather would not need more details on that front.
“But you had not transformed yet?” Grandfather pressed.
“No,” Diana said, “that didn’t happen until later. I was alone. I’d managed to slip away from Manaba and Charlie but, I knew they were looking for me. So, I closed my eyes and I...I thought of Cat.”
Her eyes once again glanced towards Cat. He met her gaze for a brief moment before forcing himself to turn away from her. Though, he could not help but feel that his refusal to acknowledge her had less to do with anger now and more with guilt. It was his fault, truly that they were all in this situation. If he had listened to the elders…
“And you transformed,” grandfather’s voice cut through Cat’s thoughts.
“Yes,” Diana answered.
“I see,” grandfather said, “Diana, I would like you to sit down.”
BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE: The Unforgettable Southern Billionaires: The Complete Collection Boxed Set (Young Adult Rich Alpha Male Billionaire Romance) Page 35
