The Beholder

by Connie Hall

  “I’m so sorry, Kane.” Tears stung her eyes as she laid her palm on the side of his cheek, feeling the thick stubble there.

  He dropped the strand of hair, tipped up her chin and wiped the tears away with his thumb. He looked deep into her eyes and didn’t seem to be speaking to her at all, but to himself. “Why is it that I can forget everything in your arms?” He rolled on top of her, settling his delicious weight down on her.

  Nina clung to him. He needed her—that was all that mattered right now. She didn’t want to think about what lay ahead. Live for the moment. The mantra echoed in her mind.

  Chapter 12

  Kane listened to the embers popping in the campfire. Shadows flicked along Nina’s long black hair, shooting blue diamonds through it. She lay on her side, nestled in his arms, spent after Kane had made love to her for the third time.

  Her head rested in the hollow of his shoulder, her sensuous breasts pressed against his side. Her long hair had dried and blanketed his chest and arm and felt like velvet next to his skin. In fact, everything about Nina felt smooth, delicate and perfect. He’d never felt such inner peace as when he held her in his arms. Her bewitching body, caresses and scent were a salve to his soul.

  He listened to her soft breaths and the light sound of her snoring. He grinned, certain he’d never heard anything that gave him more pleasure. She’d definitely deny it if he told her later. He carefully moved her until her head rested over his heart.

  She sighed, her hand tightening around his waist, one leg slipping up to rest on his upper thighs. He ran a finger along the downy skin at the small of her back. And he couldn’t forget entering her for the first time. When he’d looked into her bright blue eyes and she had trustingly yielded her maidenhead to him. He’d experienced an overpowering need to keep her close to him forever. And it grew stronger with each passing moment he spent with her. He felt it now, and it bothered him, because eventually he’d have to give her up. They couldn’t be together. What if he accidentally shifted and he woke to find that he’d done the same thing to Nina as he’d done to Daphne? He wouldn’t be able to live with himself. No, he couldn’t take that chance. They would both be better apart. The sooner he resigned himself to that fact, the better. Once they found Ethan and made sure he was safely away, he would have to find a way to let her go.

  He exhaled deeply; then his eyes grew heavy. Nina’s aura was so peaceful, calming and cozy, he found himself drowsy. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep his eyes open.

  Psssst!

  Nina’s eyes popped open as Koda’s voice woke her. His form materialized in front of the cave’s opening, hints of morning sunlight forming halos of bright pinks and orange around his swirling energy.

  For a second he was a mass of white fluctuating light. The intensity dulled, and his features drifted into place. His emotions controlled the color of his image. This morning he must have been angry, for his grizzly bear features were all surging flecks of red mist. He prowled toward her, his massive paws floating on air as he approached. He paused not two feet away and stared at them entwined in each other’s arms. He shook his head, then looked down his nose at her.

  What have you done, Nina?

  A blush heated Nina’s cheeks. She’d never had to face Koda in such a compromising situation. It wasn’t pleasant having her private life open before him, and she couldn’t keep the chagrin from slipping into her thoughts. I don’t need you spying on me, or giving me a lecture.

  Koda bent and sniffed Kane’s face. His nose wrinkled as if he smelled something displeasing. This two-skin is dangerous. He cannot accept his animal side and the urges that go with it. Until he does, he can never truly realize the extent of his own power, nor will he ever be happy or let himself truly care for anyone.

  Who said anything about caring?

  I know you have feelings for him, because your powers of suggestion falter when used on him. Your fondness for the two-skin negates your abilities to control him.

  So that’s why her physical commands didn’t work on Kane.

  Okay, so I like him. So what? I’m not looking for any happily ever afters. She was practical enough to believe they didn’t exist for her. They never had. I don’t need you lecturing me on my love life. So, why are you here?

  I’m here to warn you. You’ll have no future with him.

  You said get a life. So I got one—not much of one, either. Just a few hours of bliss. Am I not allowed a small smidgen of happiness without your insightful commentaries—that, I might add, are always after the fact? I knew what I was getting into. Angry tears stung her eyes. Please, leave me alone.

  Beware. Trouble follows this two-skin, and it will follow you, too.

  Stop talking in riddles, for goodness’ sake! Just tell me what’s coming.

  You know the rules. Koda gave her a long-suffering look with his airy sparkling eyes; then he disappeared in a blink of bright scarlet dazzling light. His exit looked like a firecracker exploding. He must have been livid.

  She glanced over at Kane nestled beside her. His five o’clock shadow darkened the sharply chiseled planes of his face. At the moment he looked peaceful in sleep. A ghost of a smile hovered about his lips and softened his expression. He was so large and intensely male and beautiful she still couldn’t believe they had slept together. She wasn’t gorgeous like Fala and Takala. Handsome guys weren’t attracted to her. She blinked back a wash of tears.

  For a few hours he’d been totally hers. She found herself resenting Koda for breaking into her precious few intimate moments of happiness. Spirit guides had no right to do that. No one had that right.

  She lifted a tawny strand of hair sticking to Kane’s strong, square chin and brushed it back. He moaned softly in his sleep but didn’t awaken. She looked over at him and recalled their intimacy. He’d told her she was beautiful and whispered sweet encouraging words to her, but nothing beyond that. Koda’s reading of Kane was most likely correct. Even if Koda was right, he didn’t have to point it out—especially after she’d just had the most life-altering night of her life. Kane had warned her that he was too hardened to get close to anyone. He’d been honest all along. She had known what to expect, but her heart had a hard time coming to terms with the truth.

  Abruptly panic, anxiety, annoyance and a sensation of being trapped snarled Nina’s thoughts. The vibrations were close, chilling. Shivers gripped her. She felt her body temperature plummeting. Uncontrollable trembling shook her. Perhaps this was the trouble about which Koda had warned her.

  She picked up Kane’s arm so she could slip out of the death grip he had on her waist, but he startled awake. Confusion and terror clouded his eyes for a second; then he saw her. Relief flooded his expression as he tenderly stroked her lips with his thumb. “You’re all right,” he said.

  “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” Something had frightened him. She could feel the fear and relief and concern battling each other inside him. His perceptions fought with the shivers gripping her.

  “I didn’t want to hurt you in my sleep.”

  Nina realized what was behind his fear. She bent and kissed him, then said, “You can’t hurt me, Kane.” You will in the future, but not at this moment. “As long as we’re touching, I’ll know when you shift and want to harm me.”

  “You won’t be able to escape fast enough.”

  “I will.”

  He didn’t look convinced, and his face darkened into a severe veneer of doubt and uncertainty.

  Another wave of emotion bowled into Nina, and she shook from it.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sensing a creature’s distress. We have to hurry or we might be too late.”

  In minutes, they dressed and headed out of the cave. Nina led the way. Above her, the sun rose in the east, jutting shades of pink, orange and yellow across the sky. An eerie quiet filtered the air. She couldn’t detect one bird’s song, one animal scurrying away. The only sound was the crunching of their footsteps through the heavy s
now. The same sensation that she’d felt when she’d last met the gleaner. The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. Was this the moment she’d dreaded, facing the gleaner and Kane? What would happen if she tried to destroy his brother? How far would Kane go to defend him? Nina knew she didn’t have a chance of destroying the gleaner if Kane interfered. A cold sweat broke out on her body. It was hard to think of Ethan as just a monster any longer. He had a brother who loved him deeply. Still, Nina couldn’t allow his killing to continue.

  The creature’s emotions led Nina to a ravine. Huge rocks jutted out along the walls. At the base, the rocks had cracked and left a recessed nook, large enough for a man to slip inside and stay warm, a perfect hidey-hole.

  “Look, tracks.” She pointed to the cranny’s entrance. The trail led away from it.

  Kane passed her and reached the niche first. “Look at this. Two sets of human footprints and drag marks. Something heavy was pulled out of here.”

  Nina bent down and glanced into the opening. Someone had made a cozy campsite. The snow had been swept out of the hole. A backpack sat near the ashes of a campfire. “Someone was abducted. I must have sensed the emotions of the person being taken.”

  Kane bent down and sniffed the snow. “Ethan was here.” He ran his hands back through his hair, jerking on the golden strands as if he meant to rip them out. “How could they capture him?”

  “Good question. Whoever it was sneaked up on him. They couldn’t have gotten near him if he knew they were close.” Nina let her gaze roam over the area.

  Kane scooped up the backpack and opened it. He pulled out a passport. Inside was Ethan’s human photo, the red glare of his eyes illuminated by a flash. Kane’s eyes glassed over with emotion.

  Nina spotted something shining in the snow. She picked up a dart. “Looks like they drugged him.”

  “Who’s responsible for this?” Kane turned, his expression sharpening into suspicion. “Have members of your family taken him?” He grabbed her arms. “Tell me the truth.”

  “No,” Nina said adamantly. “I lied when I told you they knew where I was. They know nothing about Ethan.”

  “Then who has him?” Kane’s fists tightened at his sides, his frustration and anguish gripping his whole body.

  Swirling emotions flooded Nina’s senses from all sides. She grabbed Kane’s arm to warn him, but he must have sensed the danger, for he shoved her behind him.

  Two-skins materialized out of the forest, prowling out from behind snow-covered trees, rocks and bushes. Nina stopped counting at thirty. They moved in perfect hunting formation, circling Kane and Nina, sleek lion muscles pumping, fangs bared. Six males, larger than the others, with darker manes, approached them. Scars pocked their furred bodies. One had a brown mane and only one eye. He led the others.

  “No sudden moves,” Kane whispered to her. “I’ll handle this.”

  She was glad Kane’s large, powerful form separated her and the seniphs, but she knew they wouldn’t have a chance if the shifters attacked. Even an alpha male couldn’t fend off thirty of his own kind. She knew exactly how Daniel must have felt in the lion’s den.

  One Eye and the five males stepped forward.

  “Quinton,” Kane addressed One Eye first, then the other five males. “Why is the council here?”

  Quinton spoke first. “You’ve broken trust again, Kane. Betrayed us all. You knew Ethan was in the area, yet you kept it from us. Worse, you haven’t destroyed him. You must face a tribunal.” When Quinton spoke, his voice, commanding and rasping, came from another dark, cold dimension that lacked human emotion.

  Nina’s shivers made her whole body quake. The enmity and aggression coming from Quinton alone jackhammered her insides. This seniph was ready to kill Kane. Nina stepped over to Kane’s side and slid her hand in his.

  He didn’t protest, only shot her a hard look. Then he spoke to Quinton. “You have Ethan?”

  “You dare toy with us?” For the first time, Quinton’s majestic brow wrinkled slightly with uncertainty, but not for long. His anger took over as he roared, “Do not play games with me. You have him.”

  “I don’t.”

  A woman and two deputies appeared at the back of the group of seniphs. All three wore blue uniforms, parkas and boots. One of the men was squat, fleshy, sporting a bulldog face. The other was lanky and squinted nervously. Nina recognized Clive and Jake, the deputies who’d been burying the animals at the Baldoon farm.

  The woman was taller than the two deputies by a few inches. A sheriff’s badge gleamed over her left breast. A tight bun at the nape of her neck flattened her hair to her head. She was stunningly beautiful, most likely an alpha female. Was this the Arwan the deputies had been discussing?

  The two deputies had their Glocks drawn and aimed at Nina and Kane. The sheriff gave them a command to wait; then she approached them. The measuring way in which the sheriff eyed Nina made her more uncomfortable than she already was.

  “Where have you hidden him, Kane?” the sheriff asked.

  “Arwan.” Kane’s lips tightened into a thin line. His razor-sharp eyes bored into Arwan as if he were trying to see that part of her that would betray him.

  “I’m sorry, but this is my job.”

  “I know.” Resignation forced a deadpan note into Kane’s voice as he asked, “You led them here?”

  “It wasn’t hard following your tracks from the cabin. I figured you’d go to the cave.”

  Kane must have been close to this woman. Jealousy stung Nina. Could the presence she had felt and the tracks she’d seen at the cabin been Arwan’s rather than Ethan’s?

  “Where is Ethan?” Arwan asked. “You can’t protect him any longer. For your own sake, tell us.”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Don’t lie, Kane.” Arwan’s upturned eyes softened when she looked at Kane.

  It appeared Arwan cared for Kane in more than a friendly way. Nina felt her green-eyed monster resurfacing.

  “I’m telling the truth,” Kane said.

  Quinton stepped forward. “We’ll find out when you’ve spent some time with the doom demons. Now, go peaceably with us, or we’ll force you.”

  Doom demons? Nina’s brow wrinkled in thought. They were a new species she’d never heard of, but it didn’t surprise her. Her grandmother had warned her of the many types of demons in the underworld. Even her grandmother, the previous Guardian, hadn’t battled all of them. Whatever they were, doom demons didn’t sound pleasant.

  “Take me, but leave her.” Kane motioned toward Nina.

  “She knows too much, and she’s as guilty as you of hiding the gleaner. She must stand before the tribunal.”

  “She’s done nothing. This was all my fault. Let her go—run, Nina!” Kane shoved her. The air around him shimmered and pulsed; then he shifted. His clothes ripped away with his human skin as he leaped on Quinton.

  The other two-skins dove in, driven to a frenzied attack by the sudden violence.

  Nina lost sight of Kane, hidden within a huge mass of fur, whirling claws and fangs. She screamed and ran straight into the middle of the fray.

  “Freeze!” Shots rang out.

  A bullet whizzed past Nina’s ear. The loud blast not only stopped Nina but all the other shifters as well. She searched for Kane, but the lion bodies on top of him were snarled together like fallen dominoes. Then she spotted Arwan, gun drawn and aimed at Nina’s heart.

  “Keep your hands up,” Arwan ordered. She scowled at her fellow pride members. “Get off of him. Right now. All of you, off.” Arwan’s gaze looked frantically for Kane, her expression exposing more than mere apprehension.

  Nina prayed Kane was still alive as the animals parted, some limping away with bites and torn flesh. When she saw Kane at the center, she let out the breath she’d been holding. Minor bites and scratches covered his furry snout and body. His lion eyes were still vicious and wary from the heat of the battle. He snarled dangerously, flashing fangs, crouched and ready to strike again i
f his enemies came too close. The old shoulder and arm bites hadn’t reopened, thank goodness. Nina wanted to get to him, and it took all of her willpower to stay rooted to her spot.

  Several seniphs lay on the ground near his feet, their bloody bodies not moving. Quinton was one of them. The other five council lions gave Kane a wide berth, eyes guarded, their spines taut and riddled with wounds. All the two-skins seemed accepting of the violence, as if it were routine. Three female seniphs had cautiously approached Quinton and licked the wounds on his face and body. Nina saw him coming around. She guessed all two-skins thought nothing of their primitive animal natures. But as an outside observer, it was brutal to watch. Her heart still hammered in her chest, and it had left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Almost as bad as having a gun pointed at her, but not quite.

  “Kane, you go peaceably, or she dies.” Arwan looked down the barrel of her gun at Nina.

  Kane seemed to see Nina for the first time since the battle. Impotent rage darkened his green eyes almost to black.

  “What’s it gonna be, Kane?” Arwan asked.

  “You win,” Kane said in a frustrated growl that sent shivers along Nina’s spine. It sounded so foreign, hearing his voice coming from his seniph body. The huge lion mouth made it deeper, more guttural and fearsome.

  “Chain him, and cuff her.” Arwan motioned to the two deputies, calling them by name, Clive and Jake. Nina’s suspicions had been correct. Clive resembled the bulldog. Jake was the lanky one.

  Kane allowed them to shackle his neck and feet. They were the kind of iron chains she had seen used on large boat anchors, a good two inches thick. The padlocks were the size used on treasure chests. They weren’t taking any chances of Kane escaping.

  Then Jake came over to Nina, pulled off her gloves and cuffed her wrists. Nina could see Kane struggling to control his temper. She knew he’d fight to the death for her. His willingness to save her from harm awed her and caused an oppressive weight to settle on top of her chest. At least he cared for her a little, or was it just his overprotective alpha nature stepping to the fore? Either way, she didn’t want him harmed for her sake.