by T. A. Foster
I shook my head. “We protect. We save. We guard. We don’t kill.”
“We’re down three girls. Case needs to know we are dangerous. He thinks you’ll marry him if he picks us off like this. Fight back. Let me fight back.”
She was angry. I had never seen her worked up like this. “Focus on finding Abi, Tegan, and Eva. I’ll handle Case.”
She looked disappointed. For a second, I doubted my instructions. I doubted whether I was the right leader to lead the Nox back together. I didn’t want the Nox to be a band of killers, but maybe I was wrong.
I stood.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To talk to him. You’re right. He needs to know how serious I am. Stay here.” I walked through the tunnels, past the empty rooms. Rooms of girls who were gone. Rooms they might not sleep in again.
I waited until I was in a clearing in the forest to try for any cell phone reception.
“Hey, we need to talk.”
“Darlin’, darlin’, I was hoping we could talk tonight.” He sounded smug as usual.
“Where are you, Case?”
“Why don’t we meet at the park? You’re close by there anyway, right?”
I didn’t let the panic seep into my voice. “See you in ten minutes.”
As usual, I zigzagged back to the trails. If there were eyes on me, I wanted to confuse the hell out them. Case was sitting on a bench when I arrived. I assumed he had been nearby, on his own patrol. My hair stood on end knowing he was watching us all the time. Whom would he take next?
I sat next to him.
“Just tell me they aren’t hurt.” I stared at him.
“Depends on how you define hurt.” He smiled.
I knew he was only trying to provoke me, to make me react, and to make me growl loud enough to turn him on again. I pressed my hands in my lap.
“You might be a narcissistic prick, but you aren’t vicious.”
He stretched an arm behind me, rubbing my shoulder in the process. “Let’s make this whole thing easier. Say you’ll marry me. I’ll let the girls go and they can be your bridesmaids. Instant wedding party and it cuts down on some of the planning. The solution is easier than you think. It’s all up to you, babe.”
“There isn’t going to be a wedding. I don’t want to marry you.”
He squeezed my shoulder, his nails digging into the skin. “Here’s the thing, little kitty. You will marry me. And if I have to take everyone in your life until you say yes, I will. I’m feeling less generous each day you postpone the festivities.”
He let my shoulder go, but I didn’t rub it. I moved toward his face, hissing in his ear.
“The Nox are not mail-order brides. So tell your Tribe none of us is getting married. Let them go or there will be consequences, Case.” I stood from the bench. “You don’t want to know what we’re capable of.”
He laughed. “See, I’m glad we can meet like this. It reminds me how feisty you are. I like this side of you.”
I whipped around. “You don’t know what a bitch I can be.”
“How about that nerdy history guy? Does he know?”
“What are you talking about?” I stared at him.
“Your date tonight. You know the tall guy. Tuxedo. Works at the museum.”
“He’s just a friend.” I scrambled to say something. A sour pit twisted in my stomach.
“Is that why I saw him leave your place, his shirt half unbuttoned? The lights never turned on. Funny way for someone to act who’s another man’s future wife.”
“Are you spying on me?” I wished I had my claws out. I wanted to scratch the smug look off his face.
“I’m always spying on you. That’s how this works. You make mistakes. I have to tell you what they are. Back and forth. Back and forth, little kitty.”
“Stay out of my life. Stay away from my friends. Get out of Sullen’s Grove.”
“I can’t, babe. You know that. We have less than a month to get this ceremony over with. I can’t leave until then. It works out kind of perfectly. We can graduate together. Have the ceremony, probably near the waterfront, I think. Take a honeymoon and then I’ll be on my way.”
I gritted my teeth. “Just go now. Go find your next wife. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to be Mrs. Case Maddox number one.”
“Doesn’t work that way. There is an order to this. I have my instructions from the council. You are wife number one. I wouldn’t have enrolled at The Grove for any other reason. I need to claim this territory before I can take the next. And you—” He grabbed my shoulders roughly. “Are keeping me from my destiny. You’re being selfish, Dare.”
My pulse thickened in my blood. God, how I wanted to flatten him. Sullen’s Grove was my home. My territory. I wasn’t going to sign it over to Case or anyone. The council was wrong. The old magic that gave us our power was completely outdated and misogynistic.
He stood to face me, his breath close enough I could feel it across my neck. “You know, darlin’, we could skip the whole wedding part and just go straight to the bonding. That would be enough for me. All you have to do is say yes.”
I shoved him in the chest, knocking him back on the bench. “I’m not bonding with you. You’ll never hear those words from me. Never.”
It always came back to that. Stupid sex.
“Lose the guy. You belong to me.”
“Feeling threatened, Case?”
“By a human?” He laughed.
“Yeah, by a strong, thoughtful, intelligent man, who doesn’t have to force me into liking him. Because you should be. He’s everything you’re not.”
“Be careful. You’re starting to sound like a girl in love.”
“Love? If it pisses you off—that’s exactly what it is.” I’d known Zac less than twenty-four hours, but Case didn’t need to know our timeline. This was working. His eyes were frantic despite the coolness in his voice.
“One month damn it. You and I will be together. Now start deciding if you want stations or a sit-down dinner. And pick out some flowers for the Nox to carry.” His laugh grew louder. “This will be my first wedding, not my last, but it should be special. I want to remember all the detail you put into it.”
I was done sparring with him. Done threatening him.
I took off for the sidewalk. I knew he would trail behind me, he had admitted as much. If I ran fast enough I could lock myself in the house before the tears were visible. The tears that said everything. I couldn’t hold the Nox together. I couldn’t stop Case from kidnapping. I couldn’t make him leave town.
It was hokey. I could tell it right away. However, this was exactly what the museum wanted. The festival kicked off at eight o’clock with a lecture at the museum. There were workshops and seminars set up in every available room.
Lacey reported the tickets for my Ghost of the Forest tour had sold out. Great. I still didn’t know what I was going to talk about. I’d also need to say a prayer that whatever I saw in the woods the other night had moved on. The memory seemed more dreamlike than real.
Part of me hoped they hadn’t.
“You headed over to the park?” Lacey stood in front of my desk.
“Yeah. Thinking about it.”
“Looked like you had a good time last night.”
“Mmmhmm.” I closed out my laptop.
“You never said you were dating someone.”
My eyes shot to hers. “I guess I didn’t.” I had no interest in getting into this right now.
“It’s just…I thought…I mean…I thought you would have said something.”
There wasn’t anything to say. Truth was, if I had had a legitimate girlfriend, I probably wouldn’t have let Lacey flirt so shamelessly, but I didn’t. After one date, I wasn’t going to call Dare that. It was one date.
I pulled together a stack of papers and shoved them in my messenger bag. It had a scratch across the front now from where I had tossed it on the trail. “Look, I’ve got to setup for the tour.”
“Thanks.” She had taken care of all the mundane tasks for me.
“No problem, boss.” She lingered by my desk.
“Uh…bye.” I didn’t want to play this game again.
The festival events at the park were more upbeat than what I had seen at the museum. It had more of a family flair. Balloons, funnel cake stands, storytellers dressed in costumes.
“Ice cream?” a man with a pirate hat asked.
“No thanks.” I walked past him. He reminded me of the story I told Dare last night. The pirate who gave it all up for love.
The place was filled with kids. It made me wonder who had bought tickets for the tour tonight. The last thing I wanted was a bunch of kids crying on a dark trail.
I stopped at the entrance to the trail. The same one I had taken two days ago.
It was quiet in this part of the park. I retraced my route from the other night. It didn’t look as ominous in the daylight, but I knew when the sun went down it would be a different story.
I looked on either side of the pavement for tracks, footprints, anything. All I saw were weeds.
I continued until the pavement became gravel. I didn’t know where I had broken off and been chased, but there had to be something. A rut on the side, broken limbs. I walked back and forth, but each time I made a pass, it was the same thing. Nothing.
“You look deep in thought.”
She startled me. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Running. It’s my route,” she answered.
Dare had on short running shorts and a tank top that hugged all her curves. I liked her hair in a ponytail. She could pull off sporty and elegant.
“Right. I guess I should have figured that out.”
“And what about you? Did you lose something?” She eyed me.
“Uh—mapping out things for tonight. The tour sold out. I have to have something to tell these people.”
She laughed. “Good luck with that.” She returned the earbuds. I noticed a tattoo behind her ear I hadn’t seen before. It was a line of stars clustered together. I flashed back to last night to my lips on hers.
“Wait.” I stopped her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Why don’t you come watch me make a fool of myself tonight?”
“You mean go on the tour?”
“Yeah. It could be fun. Didn’t you say you wanted to meet up afterward? Maybe we can get another drink. You pick the place this time.”
“Sorry, I can’t make the tour. I have other plans tonight. Something came up after you left.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Maybe another time, then.”
She smiled. “Yeah, maybe another time. I’ll call you.”
I watched her run until she disappeared around a bend. If I was going to date a girl like that, showing off my cool historian skills probably wasn’t the way to go.
It was the last event of the night. I looked at my group. There were twenty-five people on this damn tour.
The park was dark. It was time to get started. “All right, everyone. Hope you enjoyed your day with our storytellers.”
Heads bobbed in agreement.
“I’m Zac Morgan, your tour guide for the next hour. We’re going to start here and make our way through the woods. Does everyone have a flashlight?” I had handed out my entire supply. “Good. Stay together. Don’t walk off the trail. Everyone ready?”
I waited for them to file in behind me. I hadn’t tried the walking backward thing, but it seemed like a good way to make sure everyone was keeping up.
“All right, so the reason you’re on this tour is to hear a little about the Ghost of the Forest, the famous she-panther who protects Sullen’s Grove. The legend is that she lives somewhere in these woods.”
The flashlights automatically started scanning the border of the trail.
“If you know anything about panthers, you know they are quiet. Territorial. They can climb trees.” The light beams instantly pointed overhead. I laughed.
“They also don’t like people. So, even though I know everyone is anxious to catch a glimpse of her, that’s not likely. Panthers keep to themselves. She doesn’t want this kind of attention.”
“My sister’s neighbor said she’s seen her,” a woman in the middle of the group called out.
“Is that so? Where?” I asked.
“Back here somewhere. It was during the day.”
I shook my head. “Panthers are more nocturnal creatures, but I guess you could see one during the day. It’s not likely though.” I sounded like a damn zookeeper.
I pivoted and walked a few more paces, taking us deeper into the woods. This was absurd.
“Can you tell us one of the stories about her?” a little boy, maybe eight years old, asked.
I halted. “I’m not from Sullen’s Grove, but I’ve heard a few.” That was a lie. I had heard enough to fill half the library. The only problem was none of them sounded like anything but fairytales.
I cleared my throat. “I think maybe this one is my favorite.” I tried to remember the details before launching into the story.
“So, one night. A very rainy, dark night, there was a group of kids. High school age. It was about this time of year and they were getting ready to graduate. There was an old Sullen’s Grove High School tradition that the seniors had to walk into the woods and carve their name on a tree. Each one had to go by him or herself and walk back out. No flashlights. No candles. Nothing.
“So these kids, the first group of seniors, were in the park, just like us tonight. They gathered and drew cards to see who would go first. Now, they all knew they had to make it all the way in and carve on the tree or the others would know. There was no backing out,” I continued with the story, ad-libbing parts that I couldn’t remember exactly.
“While the kids were running in and out of the woods, carving up the oak, there was a posse of robbers traveling through Sullen’s Grove. They thought the park would be empty late at night—a good place to hide out for a few hours to get some sleep. But when they pulled up and saw the kids, they came up with a far worse plan.”
Walking backward was getting easier. I could keep an eye on everyone this way. We were deeper in the woods now.
“Anyway, they attacked the students, thinking they could collect a ransom for kidnapping. They shoved them all in the back of the van. But from out of nowhere, she appeared. They said she rescued all the teenagers from the van, and put the kidnappers in the hospital with some pretty nasty scratches.” I smiled. It was a preposterous, ridiculous story. But maybe a good cautionary tale to keep more kids from vandalizing the park’s property. I made a mental note to research this story’s origin.
I should have seen it. Their eyes widening. The way they were stepping back, reaching out for each other, but I was wrapped up in the tale, the legend about the she-panther. Then I heard it. I didn’t need to hear it a second time to know exactly what was behind me. The rumble, the low-growl. It had been imbedded in my memory.
The crowd screamed and started running for the park. I watched as they scooped up children and tore past leaves and limbs. They never turned around.
I spun around. It was the same one. The same jaguar from the other night with dark spots. He snarled at me, baring long, sharp teeth.
I could still feel the pricks on my chest from where he had pierced the skin the last time we met. He scratched at the rocks and sniffed at my feet, his nose pressing against my knee, against my thigh. There was nowhere to run.
There were too many screams. I couldn’t track all of them at once. My ears rang with their panic. Bloodcurdling sirens, splitting through the air, desperate for help. I sprinted toward the park, hurtling myself faster to save them. The fear filled the air like thick humidity. My paws pounded through the leaves.
I skidded to a stop. “God, Noah. What are you doing?”
He snarled at
Zac. Although, this time Zac didn’t look as panicked. He was studying Noah like a project. I’d seen that look on Noah before.
He wouldn’t answer me. He acted as if I hadn’t just caught him in Nox territory for the second time in three days. Before I could convince Noah he should regret his decision to return, he extended his claws and swiped at Zac’s leg, dragging the sharp ends deeply.
I lunged forward, striking him across the nose.
“What in the hell?” I growled at him.
Noah rubbed his paw into the dirt, dragging blood along its path. Zac rolled on the ground, holding his shin. There was a lot of blood.
“That was a message from Case.” He turned and strutted into the words, out of sight. He didn’t care I had split his nose, and he certainly didn’t care about what he had done to Zac.
I looked at Zac. His eyes widened with fear as I leaned over him. I nudged his hand until he let go of his leg so I could inspect it. He was hesitant to let me near the wound. The gash was deep. It would need stitches and strong bandaging. Knowing tears like these, it would leave a scar. I couldn’t help him like this. We were in the middle of the forest and I was a panther. He’d never make it walking on his own.
I wanted to reassure him somehow that I would help, but I didn’t communicate with humans as a panther. It wasn’t what I did.
I bowed my head slightly, and then sprinted into the forest, zigzagging around trees, looping over fallen trunks until I reached the lair. I dashed to my room, transforming as I raced through the tunnel. I stood on my hind legs, stretching toward the ceiling as my fur faded and my human skin emerged. I pulled on the clothes I had laid on the bed and headed back to where I had left Zac.
It took me longer to run as a girl, but I was still fast, quicker than most. I made sure to widen my route so that I could come up from behind him as if it were all complete coincidence.
He was where I had left him.
“Zac!” I ran toward him and dropped by his side.
“Hey, you should get out of here.” He scanned the bushes behind us. “It’s not safe. Go.”
“What happened to your leg?” I pulled the tank top over my head and wrapped it under his calf, tying it over his shin. There was blood everywhere.
