by Abigail Owen
“There’s three or four I can smell.”
“Okay. So even odds.”
“Nope. You’re staying out of it.”
Sarai sat straight up and glared at him. “Like hell I am.”
“I’ve already lost you once today. It’s not going to happen again.”
Her breath whooshed out of her. He couldn’t have meant that as it sounded, as though she was important to him. She tipped her chin up stubbornly. “I can fight.”
His jaw tightened. “You’re not ready,” he insisted. “If you have to defend yourself, then do it. But, otherwise, let us deal with it.”
Sarai glared at him a moment longer.
“I mean it, Sarai. After everything that’s happened today, you owe me.”
She blew out a deep breath. “All right. Defensive only,” she agreed. Although if she happened to step right into the middle of things she’d have no choice but to defend herself. Right?
“I can see your wheels spinning,” he said. “Don’t.”
“Next stop Yankee Station, 153rd St.,” the mechanical voice announced.
Zac and Sarai stood and made their way down the stairs. Zac went first, forced to turn sideways—otherwise his broad shoulders didn’t fit the narrow stairwell. They stepped onto the platform and Zac slowly turned his head to the right.
“Walk.”
He placed his hand in the small of her back. She felt comforted knowing he was there with her. She walked as fast as she could without looking as if she were running. She didn’t want to trigger the wolves’ predatory response to prey fleeing.
Suddenly, the frantic sound of a car horn honking snapped her attention to the lot just outside the station. George.
“Run for it,” Zac urged in a harsh, low voice.
She didn’t hesitate or question. She just took off at a sprint. Like many cougar shifters, she was fast. Her long legs and slender form combined with her natural sprinting ability from her cougar shift. Granted she was trying to outrun male wolves.
She felt as though she could feel them breathing down her neck. She expected to feel claws rake down her back at any moment, though she knew they wouldn’t shift. Almost without knowing how she got there, Sarai leapt into the car. Scott had thrown the door open for her. She turned, expecting to find Zac on her heels, only to see him a ways back, still between pillars on the platform, fighting off two men.
“Help him!” she yelled.
“We’ve got orders. Your safety is first priority,” George said, though he didn’t look any happier about it than she did.
Sarai felt panic well up inside her. They weren’t going to take him, not while she had anything to say about it.
“I’m going to help him, and you’re coming since you have to protect me.”
She was just moving to crawl back out of the car when Zac leveled one guy with a powerful right hook then knocked the other off his feet with a roundhouse kick straight to the chest.
“Zac!” she yelled.
He ran. George peeled out as soon as Zac was in the car, before he even had the door shut all the way.
“Oh my God! Are you okay?” Sarai was on her knees in front of him in the back of the limo. Unthinking of her actions, uncaring even, she ran her hands over his face and arms checking for injury.
Gently he took her hands in his to hold her still, his gaze bemused. “I’m fine. Not a scratch.”
With a gentle tug, he pulled her up onto the seat beside him, tucked right into his body. He let go of her hands, but Sarai didn’t move further away, as she would have before this. Right up until the moment she’d decided to confide in him.
“Good thing you took them out when you did, boss. She was about to run back out there for you.” George flicked a glance at them in the rearview mirror before moving his gaze back to the road. Though he said nothing, she caught the small twitch of his mustache, an indication he was more amused than annoyed by that fact.
Zac gave her an exasperated look. “You promised to stay out of the fight,” he admonished, the softness of his voice belying the frustration in his eyes.
“I was going in order to force my bodyguards to engage.” She glared at him. “We’re going to have a talk about the priorities you’ve given George and Scott.”
He raised a single eyebrow. “Is that before or after you explain this entire day?”
CHAPTER 19
When they reached the hotel, George drew up to the front, but Zac wouldn’t let her out immediately. First he got out, carefully checking the surrounding area. Then he ran upstairs while George and Scott waited with her in the car.
She didn’t like that he took such crazy risks. He should at least have taken Scott with him. But Zac seemed to put every life before his own when it came to the people under his care.
Not one to waste time, Sarai took advantage of their wait in the car. “Guys, I want to apologize for the way I took off. I honestly never thought you’d think I was dead.”
“It’s okay.” Scott quickly forgave.
But George stayed silent. She met his gaze in the mirror. “Why’d you do it?” he asked.
Sarai bit her lip. “A very good reason. At least I think so. I’ll tell all of you when we get up to the apartment.”
After a long, tense moment, he nodded. “Just don’t do it again, kuluk.”
Sarai smiled, a rush of relief washing through her. George’s good opinion had become important to her during their time together. “I won’t.”
A knock on her window signaled Zac’s return. They all got out and let the valet park the limo sedan.
“Hey.” She leaned over to whisper to Zac as they entered the building. “What does kuluk mean?”
He whispered back, “It’s a term of endearment like love, or sweetheart, or little one. Why?”
She shook her head. “Just wondering.” But her heart silently warmed toward George all the more.
In the elevator, Zac did his usual move of crowding her against the wall. This time Sarai didn’t mind as much, or move her hand when his brushed hers slightly. Instead, she allowed herself to feel the rush of pleasure at his touch. A pleasure that was misplaced given everything they’d been through today.
As soon as they were inside the suite and the guys had checked every nook and cranny of the floor, Zac pointed at a chair.
“Time to explain.”
Sarai sat and took a deep breath. Now the moment had come, she felt a little shy. For the last twenty years, when she’d shared her visions, it had typically been over the phone with people who didn’t know her and whom she didn’t really know either. Never had those visions involved herself…or her lover.
But it was time. She could feel it, now the decision was made.
“For the last few months, since just before Andie’s wedding, I’ve been having a vision about you.” She looked at Zac.
His shoulders lost a smidge of their tension. He’d remained standing, but now he dragged another chair over to sit directly in front of her. “Bad?”
“Pretty bad,” she whispered.
“Tell me.”
“We’re in a cave. I think I’m there too, though it’s hard to tell. You’re…beaten up. It’s ugly, Zac. You’re on your knees, barely keeping yourself upright. Blood everywhere. I can’t tell from where, because you’re covered in it.”
She paused, looking down to gather her thoughts…and her emotions. Finally putting voice to the pictures in her head made them seem that much more real. She felt tears well in her eyes but curled her hands into fists, digging her finger nails into her palms to force back the tears. Crying had never helped her. Not once.
Back in control she looked up and continued. “Kyle Carstairs is in front of you. I can’t hear what he’s saying. It seems like he’s about to make an example of you.”
Zac reached for her hands. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
She nodded. “The wolves rip you to shreds as I watch. You—” She swallowed down her fear and desperation. “Yo
u don’t make it.”
She took a little half-breath, intending to add on the part about Scott being there but thought better of it and instead closed her mouth again.
“Anything else?” Zac asked.
She shook her head. She’d tell him later, when they were alone.
“That’s why you tried to go rogue?” he prompted.
“Yes. My visions are never set in stone. Different choices and decisions can change an outcome. I was…trying to protect you.”
He gave her a grim look. “By taking yourself out of the equation?” He was quoting her earlier idea regarding the wolves.
“If I go rogue, you live.” She gave a little shrug, pleading with her eyes for him to understand.
Zac leaned forward and took her chin between his fingers. “Let’s get one thing straight immediately. You don’t sacrifice yourself for me. You stay in the equation. No matter what. We’ll figure it out together.”
Sarai twisted her lips. “But you’d sacrifice yourself for me.”
“Says who?” He winked.
Sarai’s heart tripped a little. He’d actually winked. At her. She put aside her astonishment, and addressed the words.
“I can just tell. It’s who you are. Besides, how is that any different from my trying to save you?”
“It just is.”
“Bullshit.”
Zac’s eyebrows shot up. He looked over her shoulder at where George and Scott had been listening to her explanation. As if in tune with a silent command, they both left the room without a word, heading for the spiral staircase down to their own rooms.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Zac leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Care to repeat that?”
Sarai refused to back down. “You heard me. I refuse to be treated to a double standard. If I can’t sacrifice myself for you, then you can’t for me either.”
“You don’t set the rules in this Timik.”
“Then I’ll just keep trying to leave until I succeed. I need you to promise me.”
He already started to shake his head no, but she held up a hand.
“In the Carstairs Dare I was treated as a possession, without a mind of my own. Now, I’m no better than a prisoner. Kuharte in the Shadowcat Nation…”
She shook her head. “It’s getting better, but you know cougars. We don’t trust anyone, especially not other cougars. Kuharte belong to their dares. Until just a few years ago, our marriages were even arranged, to be strategic for the dares. More than that…”
She looked down at her clenched hands, searching for the words. “As a Seer, I witness horrors. Sometimes involving people I care about deeply.”
She looked back up steadily into his eyes. Eyes such a deep brown, she could lose herself in them. They made her feel warm, at home. Sarai shook off the feeling. “I can’t have you risking your life for me. It’s the only way I’ll stay. We approach this thing together. Not with you in front and me behind. Or I’m outta here, and you know I’ll eventually succeed.”
A nerve twitched at the side of Zac’s neck. After an interminable, tense silence, he finally nodded. “No self-sacrifice. By either of us.”
Sarai held out her hand. After another pause, he reached out and shook it. She let go of the deep breath she’d been holding. His promise was such a small thing, but maybe it would save his life in that cave.
She didn’t move for a moment, waiting. Hoping. The vision didn’t budge.
“What?” Zac prompted.
Sarai shook her head and got up to go to the kitchen. She pulled a beer out of the fridge, needing something to take the edge off.
“I was hoping the vision would change after I told you.”
“And?”
She shook her head, then took a long swig from the bottle. “Same as it’s ever been.”
CHAPTER 20
Zac left the lights off as he moved through the dark apartment. His focus was on the woman sleeping in the other room. Yesterday he’d run a gamut of emotions in such quick succession his head was still spinning.
Careful to be a silent as possible, he made his way to Sarai’s door and slipped inside. Sarai lay with her back to him, the covers pulled up to her chin. Zac grinned. They kept the apartment meat-locker cold. Polar bear shifters didn’t tolerate heat well.
On silent feet, he moved around to where she was facing and squatted down beside the bed. He took a precious moment to allow his gaze to roam the contours of her face. When he’d first met Sarai, his initial impression was that she was fragile, weak. He realized now that her delicate beauty and quiet ways hid a woman strong in both body and character.
Heaven help him, she’d tried to save him. Had been willing to sacrifice herself to do it. In Zac’s life only three people had ever done that for him. His parents had lost their lives, and a six-year-old Andie had dragged his unconscious ass across a long stretch of Canada. Otherwise, while he trusted certain people with his life, he didn’t have to. Zac was the strong one, the protector, the last line of defense. He was the one who sacrificed.
He’d promised Andie he’d protect Sarai. When he’d said those words, his loyalty had been to his friend. But now…the need to make sure this incredible woman was never harmed again rushed through him in a wave so intense he felt his breathing constrict. Responsibility was a mantle his broad shoulders managed easily. This was something different. She was different. Precious to him personally.
Reaching out, he gave her shoulder a gentle shake. “Hey, honey.”
Sarai’s eyes flew open. With a gasp she scrambled back in the bed, trying to get untangled from the covers. “Don’t—!”
“Hey, it’s Zac. Calm down.”
Sarai blinked for a moment before her eyes lit with recognition. Relief replaced blind fear. Sarai slumped down in the bed, and she put her face in her hands. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
Zac sat on the bed with slow, deliberate movements to keep from startling her. With a little tug, he pulled her over to lean on his chest, smoothed the sheets over her legs, and wrapped an arm around her. He tried not to think about how she was wearing nothing but a silky slip of a nightgown. At least he was dressed.
“Want to tell me what that was about?”
She was quiet so long he wondered if she would. He could feel the tap of her fingers against his chest. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t rush her.
“Kyle managed to get me in my room alone. Once. I woke up to find him standing over my bed.
Zac tightened his grip on her but kept the violent thoughts in his head to himself. “What’d you do?”
“I faked a vision that the child resulting from that night would eventually overthrow and kill him.”
“That worked?”
“Kyle had seen my gift in action enough to know it was possible. As power-hungry as he is, that future didn’t appeal.”
Zac felt her smile against his chest.
“I knew the same tactic wouldn’t work again, so I made sure I was never alone in my room again. I only went there to get clothes, shower. Andie would usually come with me or send one of the guys she trusted. I never slept in the same place night to night.”
“Jeez,” Zac breathed. While he’d been orphaned young, he’d still grown up in a community that had supported him, nurtured him. He hadn’t ever feared sleeping in his own bed.
Sarai shrugged. “It was what it was. He never found me again. That way, at least.”
“But you’d wake up thinking he was there?”
Sarai pulled back, looking at him with puckered eyebrows. “How’d you know?”
Zac tipped his head. “The way you reacted just then. No screaming. No crying. That’s happened before.”
She snuggled back down into his arms. “Yeah. Especially the first year or so after it happened. I’d wake in a cold sweat, terrified he’d found me again.”
Zac pressed a soft kiss on the top of her head. “You don’t have to fear that now. I’ve got you.”
Sarai shook her he
ad. “I’ll be afraid of Kyle Carstairs until the day one of us dies.”
Zac couldn’t say anything to that. He clenched his jaw against the futile wrath inside him until his teeth started to ache. He should be able to protect his people. He wasn’t used to feeling helpless in situations like this.
“I’ve been meaning to ask. You said yesterday on the train that if you were involved, your visions didn’t work?”
He felt rather than heard her sigh. “Yes. I often see nothing at all if I’m included in something. At best, I get patchy pictures. Hazy. It’s a weakness. One I’ve never shared with anyone else. Not even Andie.”
Zac thought about that. Since he’d found her on the train, Sarai had changed how she was with him. Almost as if she saw him as a trusted partner, rather than an obstacle. Her trust made him want to be that partner, that person she could rely on to fix this. He just didn’t know how.
After a long moment of holding her, he sat up. “Come on. We’ve got to go.”
“Where?”
“Airport. The wolves found you—or us—here. We’re going to clear out.”
She glanced at the clock. “At three in the morning?”
“I arranged a private flight.”
“To?”
“My Timik in Canada. We’ll fly to Kuujjuaq, north of here. We go on foot from there.”
****
Sarai watched out the window of the small jet Zac had commandeered for them. Getting out of the building and to the airport had been uneventful, as had the flight.
Never having been on a private jet before, Sarai explored the craft with interest. The cabin was something else, with nice, first-class-like seats in a soft, tan leather, and plenty of space for everyone, even Zac, to spread out in. She felt somewhat out of place in her jeans and t-shirt when surrounded by such opulence. She’d opted for comfortable rather than classy when they’d stolen away in the night.
She’d looked at Zac with a twinkle in her eye when he’d sat down, his long legs spread out in front of him, crossed at the ankle. “You know after this you’ll never be able to fly coach again.”
