Squealing tires and the smell of burnt rubber filled the empty desert as he slammed on the brakes, coming to a stop a few feet from me. The truck idled for a moment or two before he put the truck in ‘park’ and got out.
He stepped from the cab, cautious, leaving the driver-side door open as he circled the front of the truck. He sniffed the air speculatively and unsure as I sat perfectly still, waiting for him to recognize me.
“Well, Ma’am,” he said with more than a hint of surprise in his voice. “Aren’t you a pretty thing?” Raiden’s voice carried a mesmerized quality as he spoke.
Damn it, he’d called me “Ma’am” again. I growled my displeasure since I couldn’t talk. He chuckled to himself. “Ms. Dahlia, you do make a pretty picture.”
He strolled by me, opening the passenger-side door. I followed, thankful to not have to walk the rest of the way into the city. I stopped just before hopping into the cab of Raiden’s truck, searching over the long line of my body for Danny. Something in my gut tightened as his outline faded just a bit.
“Go on,” Danny encouraged, waving his hand at me to hurry. “You’ll be fine now. I’ve done what I was supposed to. You don’t need me anymore.”
I understood then that I would never see him again. This was it . . . forever. I wanted to tell him that I missed him, how much I’d loved him, and how sorry I was about how things turned out. In this form, I couldn’t. I whined, a sad little pathetic sound that I hoped would get my message across.
“I know Dahl, I’ve always known. Now, get outta here and tell those two bastards not to let you out of their sight from now on,” he ordered. “I won’t be there to clean up their messes next time.” His smile broadened to the bright jovial expression I remembered.
I barked back at him and hopped up into the cab. I stared out the window at Danny as Raiden strode back around the cab and got behind the wheel.
“Ya know, Georgie came and got me at the cabin and told me to head out this way, that you’d find me. If only he knew,” he said, glancing over at me from the corner of his eye.
I couldn’t take my eyes from Danny’s form, fading in the darkness of the desert as Raiden made a U-turn on the empty highway and headed back towards civilization. I put my front paws on the back of the seat and watched out the back window as Danny faded into nothing and his aura disappeared. He was gone, truly and forever gone.
I felt, oddly, at peace. I’d thought Danny hadn’t known that I loved him but he did. And I could let him go. I sank back onto the seat, resting. I curled up into a ball, tucking my snout underneath my tail, and closed my eyes.
“You go ahead and rest there, Ms. Dahlia. It’ll be a while before we get back to the city,” Raiden said, awe still thick in his voice. “I didn’t believe it when Georgie told me but you are the Golden Anidae,” he whispered as I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 15
The hot sun beat down on me, heating my skin to near frying. My eyes fluttered open and I shrank back from the bright light of the morning sun blaring down on me. Laying on one of the lounge chairs by the pool on Enza’s back patio, I stretched and glance down. Naked. I was bare-ass naked but I was human, so that was good.
A pile of clothing sat on the left side of the lounge chair and a leather coat on the right. In the corner, hiding in the shadows under the patio roof was a small coyote tucked in on himself with his snout and eyes hidden in his tail. Grabbing the jacket on the ground, I threw it over me and shoved my hands through the arms of the jacket as I got to my feet. It was good to be on two legs again, even if they were a little unsteady.
I wrapped the jacket tight against me and glanced over at Raiden hiding. He wasn’t sleeping, his breathing was too shallow for that, plus his fur bristled with each movement I made.
How long had it been since he’d seen a naked woman? Were’s usually didn’t have this reaction to nudity. They stripped down to shift at the drop of a hat so naked was a state of being. I wasn’t keen on Raiden seeing me nude but I didn’t think I was hideous enough to warrant the reaction I got.
“You can look now,” I snarled, suddenly annoyed.
His tail switched, skimming across the stone patio and his yellow eyes focused on me from underneath his fur. He breathed out a small huff of relief and got to his feet.
I opened the sliding glass door and left it open behind me, dropping his jacket on the couch as I passed. I headed to my room to grab some of my own clothes and make a quick call to make sure Enza showed up for work.
My knees were still shaky and I was starving but other than that, I felt great. My body was as good as new and when I passed the bathroom mirror and saw and pale yellow tint to the area around my left eye, I stopped.
My eye had been swollen completely shut a few hours ago. As I examined my face in the mirror, any remnants of the previous night’s beating were almost completely gone. The only indication was the faint tint of a yellow bruising around my eye. The shift had healed me completely and had kept me warm, just like Danny had said.
Striding back to my bedroom, I thought of Danny. I missed him but I didn’t feel sad anymore and definitely didn’t feel the gut-wrenching sorrow I’d thought I’d never recover from. I smiled. He’d looked good, peaceful as we drove away.
I threw on some clothes and a bra, dear God in heaven . . . a bra and called Enza’s office. When I heard her voice, I hung up. She was safe. That was all I needed to know. I came back out to find Raiden, in human form and dressed, standing near the front door and avoiding my eyes.
“Are you leaving?” I asked, strolling into the kitchen and opening the fridge. He seemed skittish and I figured if I kept it casual and acted as if nothing had happened, as if I hadn’t just been naked everything would be just fine.
A carton of left over Chinese, chicken and broccoli, smelled enticing and was seconded by my rumbling stomach. It looked like congealed goo but I was starving. I threw the container in the microwave and hit ‘start’.
“I think I should,” he said, his hand on the doorknob. “I should check on Georgie, he was in a pretty bad way when I left him last night. Worried.”
“Raiden?”
He stopped but didn’t turn around.
“How did I change back?”
“Ya don’t remember?” he asked, turning to take a really good look back at me.
Shaking my head, I said, “No.”
“Well, you slept pretty sound all the way back to Vegas. I carried ya back here since I didn’t have a key. Just about the time the sun came up, you melted back to human as quick as I blinked. Didn’t even wake up. Was the smoothest shift I’d ever seen.”
“Thank you for the coat,” I said with a quick nod of appreciation. He nodded back and turned to leave again. “Oh,” I said, remembering Dean’s words in the back of my head. “Would you please tell Georgie Dean says ‘hello,’?” I said, making it a question instead of a command. I didn’t want to ruffle Raiden’s feathers by ordering him around.
The microwave beeped behind me.
Raiden turned back to me with a knowing smile curving the side of his mouth. “That, I’ll be glad to do, Ma’am.”
Before I could snap at him for the Ma’am, he opened the door.
Everett stood on the other side, his fist raised to knock.
“Ev, Raiden. Raiden, Ev,” I said in introduction.
A single, low, threatening growl escaped Raiden’s tight jaw and he stepped around Everett without taking his eyes off the kid. Everett’s eyes went wide like a puppy faced with a cat and not knowing what to do.
I grabbed the Chinese from the microwave and faced Everett. “That was weird,” I said as I dug in the drawer for a fork.
Everett closed the front door behind him and padded into the kitchen on silent feet. “I guess back in the day, the old Alpha used to harass him, try and
chase him out of the territory so he isn’t too keen on the Pack.”
“Oh yeah? What happened to the last Alpha?” I asked, shoving a gigantic stem of broccoli into my mouth, a little rubbery but delicious.
There had to be something wrong in this city, a cancer eating away the Pack. I couldn’t imagine Barry, sad science teacher Barry, winning in a true fight for dominance. I kicked his ass for Christ’s sakes without breaking a sweat. I was tough but there was no way I should be able to beat the Pack Gaoh in a fight. A Gaoh could pull power from the entire pack making him stronger than just himself. If Barry was a real Gaoh, I shouldn’t have won.
“You mean the last real Gaoh?” he asked.
I nodded, catching the hitch in his voice. I kept shoveling food in my mouth though. My body needed it.
“He was killed,” he said, turning regretful eyes up to me.
“What about your Beta?” I asked.
“Killed.”
“Hooow?” I asked, narrowing my gaze on him. What the hell was going on in this damned city? I could make him tell me just by being dominant. I didn’t want to push him around though. I wanted him to feel safe and protected, to volunteer the information. I don’t know why but I was still trying to protect the kid.
“Marabelle,” he answered.
“So, she killed your Gaoh and Beta. What about the rest?” Why would Marabelle kill the Pack Gaoh and Beta? It didn’t make sense.
“Marabelle.”
“Are you telling me that Marabelle has been picking off your Pack one by one?” I set the now empty Chinese container on the counter and stared at his downcast navy blue eyes. I was still hungry, damn it.
“Yeah,” he said, hanging his head and twiddling his thumbs between his clasped hands, nervous.
“How long?” I asked, grabbing the coupons for the local pizza joint on the fridge. I needed carbs and meat.
“About five years.”
“That’s a long time,” I said, glancing up from the coupons.
He squared his shoulders, forcing his chin up and met my eyes, even if only for a moment.
“We’re good at hiding, now. At surviving,” he said with a little bit of force and pride behind his voice. Not much, but enough to make me notice. Everett would’ve had to possess a little gumption in order to survive five years with no real Pack protection and avoid Marabelle.
I tossed him the phone.
“Order a pizza and be sure it has meat on it. I’m starving. I’m gonna take a shower and then we’ll talk about Detective Salazan,” I commanded, circling the breakfast bar counter.
“He was with Marabelle last night,” Everett squeaked.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
Striding back to him, I loomed over him still perched on the stool. Only a few feet separated the heat of his body and mine. His magic spoke to mine, clinging to me in desperation. I wasn’t the warm and fuzzy type, the maternal type. I let him see the cold emptiness behind my eyes, filling my being. I let him see The Blushing Death.
“I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to think carefully about it before you answer. Did Detective Salazan walk in the front door or was he brought?” Even I heard the sharp, dangerous edge in my voice.
The cold peace of death in my eyes made Everett take a step back from me as he trembled.
Staring at me for a long moment with recognition in his gaze, he answered, “He showed up to the compound alone, punched a code into the keypad, then drove through the gates. I hopped the wall and followed his Escalade across the grounds until he entered the house . . . alone. I didn’t even know it was Marabelle’s compound until I climbed up the palm to the second story and watched through the window. She took his arm.” His voice didn’t quake, his heartbeat didn’t spike, and his eyes never left mine.
“How long did you say Marabelle’s been killing the Pack off?” I asked, pacing the floor with a foreboding itch that made my fingers twitch. Unspent energy built up in me, prickling across my skin. There was nowhere for the energy to go, nothing for me to punch or kill, and I desperately wanted to kill something.
“About five years?” he answered with a question in his voice.
It was too coincidental. The entire situation was too fucking coincidental. Detective Cordero Salazan was in this shit clear up to his eyeballs. He had to be. My gut tightened with dread as the pieces started adding up. That bastard was covering up her Pack murders. He might even be her servant. With the Pack gone or almost gone, there was no one in this city to challenge her. That was the only way any of this shit made sense. But where did Juliana fit in to all of this? Cordero Salazan carried that pain around like an albatross. She had to mean something. There was still a piece of the puzzle missing.
“I’m going to need a weapon,” I whispered to myself. I needed more than my damned letter opener. If kidnapping Soraida and Rupert were a way to lure two more pack members out into the open and finally finish them off, then Soraida and Rupert were probably already dead. If kidnapping Soraida and Rupert were a way to get at me, then there was a chance they might still be alive. I was in for a knockdown, drag-out fight.
“What kind of weapon?”
“A gun, preferably a Smith and Wesson 1911 with silver bullets,” I rattled off, quick, like I was making a shopping list.
“When will you need it?” he asked without blinking an eye.
Evaluating him with a cautious expression, I could almost see the wheels turning behind his eyes.
“Before nightfall.”
He thought for a moment, quiet. He still thought Soraida was alive, that I was the white knight who was going to save her. I wasn’t ready to break the kid’s heart, not yet. My white knight status had been in question for a very long time. But I sure as hell would try.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “The silver bullets might be tricky.”
“Without the silver, it’s pointless.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he repeated over his shoulder before he left.
Picking up the cordless phone, I dialed Detective Salazan’s number. It rang three times before I was shuffled over to voicemail.
“You’ve reached Detective Salazan. Please leave a detailed message and a number where you can be reached after the tone.” His rich tenor rolled through the phone like honey from a warm knife. Beeeep.
“Cordero,” I purred. “It’s Dahlia. I would love to see you tonight if you’re free,” I said with expectation thick in my voice. He had to believe I wanted him. Every man wants to be wanted. “Call me,” I said and hung up the phone. He’d either invite me or I’d crash the party. Either way, I was done playing with these assholes.
I ordered the pizza, walked back into my bedroom, and stripped all my clothes off before I got into the shower.
The hot water sluiced over my skin, heating me through to my core. I washed all the dirt and blood of the night before from my body as everything ran through my mind again. I wasn’t sure how I’d changed but I had, and I could use that to my advantage.
Jackson had been able to shift just his hand. He’d used those claws to tear me up during our fight at the Manit. Dean could do that too. I concentrated on the magic and the control it would take to be able to do that, to only shift part of me. Raiden had said I’d shifted back without even waking up.
If I could change without the big production and only change the part of me I wanted, I would be deadly. With a little practice . . . All I could do was try.
I closed my eyes and filled my mind with Dean, his scent, his heat, his power. I concentrated on my hand, wrapping his scent and power around my wrist until it pooled in the tips of my fingers. Visualizing my hand disappearing into his power, my skin tingled, the water heated, and places low in my body tightened.
My skin burned like I’d scrap
ed my right hand on a gravel drive as magic prickled across my hand. My mind jerked to the pain and everything disappeared, the magic, the pain, the progress. Opening my eyes, I found nothing. My hand was fine, unchanged.
I closed my eyes and wrapped my hand in Dean’s familiar warmth again, breathing in and out through my nose, smelling him as if he was there with me. My fingers tingled and burned again, lighting my skin on fire. I kept my mind wrapped in the scent of Pack, in Dean’s full-bodied woodsy scent and concentrated through the pain. I opened my eyes and watched my hand morph into something between human and wolf.
Silky golden fur covered my hand with now shortened, almost stubby fingers. Silver-colored claws sprouted from my nails, glistening in the light from above as the water coated my half hand/half paw.
I gasped in surprise and excitement, losing the tenuous hold I had on the Pack’s scent in my mind. With my concentration broken, my hand reverted back to human with no pain and no tingle.
Hot damn! Danny had been right. I wasn’t a werewolf. Shifting wasn’t natural for me but it was for Dean. If I could channel his power and the power of the Pack into me like a real Eithina, I could shift. His Pack was my Pack and their power was my power. I just had to hone it.
Chapter 16
Everett had turned up again at Enza’s house at twenty minutes after six with two magazines filled with .45 caliber silver bullets and a pristine new gun case. It was the most he could get on short notice.
I’d popped open the case and ran my fingers gingerly along the sleek, sexy curve of the brand new Smith and Wesson 1911. Just like back home.
The gun was beautiful, like a work of art encased in foam. I knew I was salivating but couldn’t stop myself. I’d missed the feel of cold steel in my hands.
I lifted the gun from the case and held it, easy and light, in my right hand. Fitting my grip perfectly, it was as if the gun had been made for me. A chill of excitement ran through me as the weapon melded with my hand like an old familiar friend. Grasping one of the magazines in my left hand, I snapped it into place.
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