She barely had the car parked behind a long, one-story structure when Daniel jumped out and ran toward the front of the building.
“I think his eyes are still closed,” Sid said as she and Eden followed him.
She overtook him in a couple of steps, being faster and stronger and far more dangerous than her mortal relative. She felt Joe and the others’ presence and she was the first one through the door, ready for any danger waiting inside.
Instead, the first person she saw was Jason Cage. She came to a quick halt and cheerfully said, “Hi!”
Chapter Twenty-eight
A new trio of people rushed in, led by a gorgeous blonde woman.
Somehow, Sofia was certain none of this trio were werewolves. She expected them to attack, but instead the blonde’s eyes brightened at the sight of Jason and she looked like she wanted to eat him up.
Jealousy boiled through Sofia, but the woman took no notice of her.
Instead the blonde put her hands on curvy hips and looked at the naked men. “So, Harry, do you need rescuing, or is this about to turn into an embarrassing situation?”
“We needed rescuing about ten minutes ago,” Harry answered.
“See, Dan’s getting better,” said the other woman who’d come in. “He’s up to seeing ten minutes into the past, instead of two hundred years.”
When she heard the name Dan, Sofia looked hard at the blond young man wearing glasses and the striking woman with dark curls next to the tall blonde. Realization dawned at last.
She pointed at the dark-haired woman. “You’re Eden.” To the blonde. “And you’re Sid. And Mike and Harry and Joe—I should have remembered about you when you told me your names. But having three more werewolves come at me scared me to death.”
“You didn’t act scared,” Joe said.
“Oh, God, I’m sorry!” Sofia told her cousin’s coworkers. “Cathy’s told me all about you—except for the werewolf stuff.”
“That’s understandable,” Sid said. “Except Cathy never told us about you.”
“I’m sorry about what I did to your brains,” Sofia said to Joe and Harry, carefully not looking below chin level.
Sofia wondered if she was the only one who cared that there were a couple of naked men in the room.
Not men, Jason thought at her, werewolves. And I’d rather you didn’t look at anyone but me.
Right, she thought back.
She wouldn’t mind looking at him naked. She didn’t think Sid would mind, either. And why the devil couldn’t she get her mind off having sex with Jason, when there were more important things to deal with?
This reminds me of a scene in A Night at the Opera, Jason continued in her head as the newcomers and naked men began talking among themselves. More and more people and luggage and things keep piling into this tiny ship stateroom, until eventually no one can move, and finally it’s so crowded people start falling out the door.
A Night at the Opera? she asked.
“It’s a Marx Brothers movie,” Jason explained. “It’s a comedy from the 1930s.”
“Oh.” I want to have sex with you, she thought.
I know.
I can’t help it, and I don’t like that I can’t help it.
You don’t like the sex?
She very much liked the sex. She craved the sex. She wanted him covering her and inside her, and her body was burning just because his arm was around her. Why didn’t these people go away?
I don’t like this—compulsion. Is it because you’re a vampire and drank my blood that I want you constantly? Anger sizzled through her, but the need for him didn’t abate any. Are you forcing me to feel like this?
Sweetheart, I feel the same way you do.
While the others talked, Jason whirled her around into the bathroom and closed the door.
“I’m not going to kiss you,” he said, though he held her close and she automatically pressed her body against his. He could feel the hard swell of her nipples through the fabric of her shirt. “Stop tempting me for a moment.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.” He lifted her chin to look into her eyes even while the sweetness of her lips beckoned to him. “Although I very much want to kiss you, instead I’m going to tell you some things, and I want you to listen to me without any argument. Promise me that you’ll listen and think about everything, and we’ll discuss it or argue later.”
“You’re a vampire. A vampire ex-con. But everything you’ve told me so far has turned out to be true, so all right,” she said. “I promise to keep my mouth shut and listen.”
“I am a Prime, which means I am an adult male vampire. Vampires are people,” he said. “Some vampires are good, some are bad, most are somewhere in between. We have our own cultures and history and problems. We aren’t the dead brought back to life; we’re born vampires. We don’t turn people into vampires when we bite them.”
“Only werewolves do that?”
“Right, but I’m explaining my own people now. We can’t fly without airplanes, or change shape like the werefolk can. We do suffer from some of the problems you see in the movies—allergies to sunlight and garlic and silver and certain types of wood, but we take medicines for these allergies.
“We don’t fear religious symbols. Or sleep in coffins, or need to rest in the earth of our homeland, or have trouble crossing running water.
“We are telepathic, we are faster and stronger and longer-lived than mortals. We do need to drink blood, for nourishment and for psychic reasons, and especially to enhance sexual gratification—but we don’t have to kill when we taste mortals.
“I’m not saying we don’t have tendencies for fierceness and violence, but we channel those tendencies—at least most of us do, most of the time—into acceptable pursuits. I control tigers for a living, for example.
“We’re highly sexed and we love making love, to our own females and with mortal women. If we’re very lucky, we find the one woman that is destined to be our bondmate. A bondmate is our perfect sexual and psychic partner, and we are the perfect partner for our bonded. The mortal term is probably soul mate.
“You are my soul mate, Sofia, and I am yours. You can deny it and fight it, but it is the truth. You want me, I want you, and every issue that stands in between is just bullshit. Normally we could and would work it out. But right now we have the complication of your being needed by your people, and my giving you up if I have to in order to fulfill my obligation to your people, and I have no idea of how we’re going to get around that.”
He paused. “You can talk now.”
As she opened her mouth to say something, a knock sounded on the bathroom door.
“Come along, you two,” Harry called. “It’s time we got back to hunting for Cathy.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
C athy’s captors kept spraying themselves and her with the stuff that blocked out scent. It made her eyes water and she kept sneezing. She knew an allergic reaction was the least of her problems. As time crept by, Cathy also tried to keep her mind off the bad things that could happen to Sofia.
Sofia was an innocent mortal in town simply to meet family. Cathy was terrified her cousin would walk into an ambush and be turned into a werewolf, just as she had been.
She tried to assuage her guilt over involving Sofia in this by envisioning all the ways she’d savage and mutilate her captors as soon as she broke free, but such thoughts only made her want to gnaw at her shackled wrist to facilitate her escape. Two things kept her from the stupid move. One was the fact that she was still a sane human being until the moon was full and not a raging, insane werewolf.
Come the full moon, though…She kept unconsciously smiling about that, and flexing her fingers as though they already sported strong, sharp claws.
The other drawback was that if she somehow managed to bite off her own hand, she would still be locked inside a cage. And oh, yeah, bleeding to death.
She tried not to believe any of the things Eric had told he
r about his plans, her people, and especially her werewolf and vampire friends. But his ideas gnawed at her.
Don’t think about gnawing.
Her only distraction came from studying everything around her. There were a great many people coming and going from the warehouse. They were bringing in supplies and loading them into shiny new vans and trucks and Hummers, while Eric supervised and gave orders like a general preparing a campaign. Some of those supplies were weapons and ammo, which gave her a very bad feeling.
“What do werewolves need with guns?” she asked as Eric strolled her way after slapping a subordinate.
“It takes more than werewolves to take over the world, darling,” he told her.
“Superpowers have nuclear weapons,” she said. “What have you got? Fleas?”
He grinned at her. “I take my Top Spot every month. We’re working on getting the nukes.”
Cathy’s heart sank. “You’re joking.”
“Only about the flea medicine.”
She got the distinct impression that he wanted her to be proud of his plans for world domination.
“Am I supposed to bat my eyelashes and say, ‘Oh, you’re so alpha’?”
He laughed. “Oh, no. I want you to know that I’m worthy of having an alpha bitch like you for myself.”
In a werewolf way, this was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her. Mike certainly never—
“Do you really believe you and I are members of the master race?” she asked. “Or are you just power hungry?”
“Yes,” he answered, flashing that sharp-toothed grin again. “And we won’t be the master race until we wipe out the naturals and then the vampires, but one thing at a time. First we absorb the Hunyara genetics into our own. Then we must build up our ranks and expand our territory. We must gain more allies and exploit their weaknesses when they are no longer useful. The war hasn’t begun yet, but the buildup is well under way.” He looked at his watch. “I wonder what’s taking Walt so long.” He chuckled. “He’s probably taking his time with a female he knows he’s not fit to bed in her proper state. I would do the same, if I knew it was my only chance with an alpha female. Not that I’ll let him breed her. Or you,” he added to Cathy.
“I love it when you talk like that,” she said, but doubted Eric recognized her sarcasm.
Their conversation was interrupted by the warehouse door swinging open to allow a new van to drive inside. Eric went over to greet the newcomers.
“We got a couple of them!” a bearded man shouted as he got out of the van. He gave a triumphant laugh. “It was as easy as you said it would be. All we had to do was follow those natural-borns and they led us to the Hunyara hideout. After the naturals gave up and left, a pair of Hunyara males came slinking back to the house. They’re as feral as we are and put up a good fight. We stunned them and came straight here.” He glanced toward a second man who’d come around from the passenger side and looked sheepish. “Well, not quite straight back.”
“I stopped for a girlfriend along the way,” the other man said. He faced Eric squarely, making eye contact for a few crucial seconds. When Eric didn’t slap him down, he went on. “Nobody saw the pickup. She won’t be missed. We can always eat her if she doesn’t take to being turned.”
Cathy fought down the urge to throw up.
“We sprayed everybody down mostly,” the first man went on.
“What the hell does that mean?” Eric demanded.
“We ran out of deodorant, but not until everybody’d been sprayed,” the other man answered. “At least enough.”
“Define enough?” Eric asked, voice low and threatening. All activity had stopped, and his people stared at him. “Pack up,” he ordered. People sprang into action without any questions, while Eric turned his attention back to the newcomers. “That was good work snatching the Hunyaras,” he said, getting grateful looks from the pair. “But did it occur to you that the natural-borns might have returned to the Hunyara house, too? Maybe they’re trailing the Hunyaras right now. If they are, and there’s the faintest trace of scent to follow, you’d be leading them back here.”
Cathy could only hope.
The driver shook his head. “No way. We got the stink off of all of us. But it wouldn’t hurt to spray everything down again anyway.”
“You do that,” Eric said. “Everything and everyone.” He rubbed his hands across his face and rolled his head to relieve tense muscles. “Things are moving faster than I’d like, but we’ll be okay.” He gestured two men over. “Tanner, I want you to get the caravan moving north, right away. Call Nathan when you’re out of the city to give an update on the situation. Make sure you get the Hunyaras back to base in good shape. John, your team and two vehicles will remain here with me. Make sure at least one of the team can operate the vampire zapper, and break out some silver rounds for one of the modified AKs. We’ve got one more delivery. I’ll wait here for it. Send out a couple of men to track down Walt.”
Cathy did not like this evidence of her captors’ efficiency.
Tanner gestured toward her. “Do we take her?”
“I’m not trusting transporting the bitches to anyone but me. Get moving.”
Cathy watched the increased activity with growing dread. One of the men came over and sprayed her cage full of the deodorant chemical, and she started to cough and sneeze, her eyes watering so much that everything became blurred.
To get her mind off the discomfort, she focused her attention deep inside. Maybe, if she tried hard enough, she could figure out how to shape-shift on her own before the full moon forced the change—whether she wanted it or not.
Chapter Thirty
Y ou didn’t have to break into my truck,” Jason complained as Mike entered the office. “I would have given you the keys.”
The big werewolf ignored the Prime and looked Sid’s way. “Status?” he growled.
She was more interested in what Mike might have learned, but she saw that he wanted time to get his seething anger at Jason under control. Since he was a dear friend, and she didn’t want the office wrecked if the Tracker and Prime got into it, she answered his question.
“Harry and Joe decided to follow the trails of any Hunyara werewolves they can find.”
“None of my relatives know where Cathy is, either,” Sofia spoke up. She was sitting at Cathy’s desk, with Daniel standing next to her.
“But we’d still like to talk to them,” Sid told her.
“Oh, yes,” Mike said softly, focusing his blue laser stare on her. “I certainly intend to talk to them.”
Fear crossed the mortal’s face, followed by a flash of determination. Sid wondered if Mike was deliberately trying to make an enemy of a woman who could control werefolk. More than likely he was still upset about what he’d had to do to the feral werewolf, and was taking it out on Sofia.
“What do you mean by that?” Sofia demanded of Mike.
“Daniel has been showing Sofia what he does,” Sid continued quickly. Keep it together, Tracker, she sent telepathically. “And Sofia and Jason have been trying to see if the glimpses of the past he pulls up make any sense to them.”
“Nothing so far,” Daniel said.
Mike continued to glare at the mortal. The Prime didn’t like it. Damn, this could go bad.
“Still no word from Laurent,” Sid went on. “I sent Eden home to be with Toni—more on that situation later. And I have been catching up on our casework while waiting for you.” I have also been telepathically looking for Cathy, she telepathically told Mike. But I think whoever has her is using a psychic damping device like the vampire hunters use.
Do you think those Purist bastards have her?
I certainly hope not. Are you calm enough to talk yet?
“No.” Mike turned toward Jason. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me about these Hunyara ferals?”
Jason rose and faced the Tracker’s fury quite calmly. “They’re a very private people, and it’s not my story to tell. What did you fin
d out from the feral?”
“Everything about werefolk is my business,” Mike growled. “What am I supposed to tell the governing council about a gang of mavericks we’ve never heard of before? What do we do about them?”
“The Hunyara aren’t the problem,” Jason said. “It’s the ferals that are preying on the Hunyara that are our problem. What did the feral tell you?”
Mike’s fists clenched at his sides. “My species has been put at risk and—”
“Cathy! Remember her?” Sofia suddenly put herself between Mike and Jason. “I thought you cared about her. I know she cares about you, but you aren’t doing anything at the moment to show me why she should.”
Mike’s attention switched to the small mortal woman, and the tension that flowed between them filled the room.
Sid saw how Jason prepared to spring forward to protect his woman. She admired the Prime’s effort at restraint. He had Sofia’s back, but encouraged her independence. She liked that in a Prime, especially since it didn’t come naturally to them.
At least a minute stretched out before Mike scratched his jaw and nodded to Sofia. She nodded back. Air came back into the room, and Jason stepped forward to put his hand on Sofia’s shoulder.
The opening chords of Coyote’s “Tempting Fate” began to play, and Sid quickly answered her cell phone. That was the ringtone she’d programmed for Tony Crowe.
Everybody looked her way.
“Hi, Dad. I can’t talk right—”
“I asked Dr. Casmerek about that thing you wanted to know about,” Tony interrupted. He sounded cranky. “I didn’t like it, but I asked.”
“Thank you.” She couldn’t keep from looking Jason over. Sofia noticed. “What was his response?”
“He said it’s possible. He wants you to give him a call. Don’t.”
“You know I have to.”
“You’re a stubborn child.”
She wanted to dance with elation. She wondered if Jason would let her lead. She smiled. “Thanks for doing this for me. I’ll get back to him as soon as I can.”
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