Gemstone

by Ann Gimpel

  Stephan was quiet so long, Niall wasn’t sure he’d answer. When he did, he said, “All right. I will. Maybe I misjudged you.”

  “You didn’t. I’m exactly the Lothario you remember, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have a heart. Or that I can’t care.” Niall cut the connection, not wanting to hear whatever Stephan said next.

  He reinstated his earlier telepathic sending with altered instructions and hoped to hell he didn’t walk into a group of pissed off shifters who’d started for Denver only to be rerouted.

  “Can’t be helped,” he muttered.

  Worry ate at him as most of an hour ticked by with no word from Stephan. A curiosity-tinged interest joined the worry. Why was he so concerned about the wolf shifter? Sure, she was one hot little number, but he’d just met her, and there was no good reason for her to grab a front-and-center focus in his world. He’d never run up against a woman he wanted more than sex and a smidgeon of companionship from. Emphasis on the smidgeon. Once a gal got too clingy, he made it abundantly clear he wasn’t that type of fellow.

  Was that about to change?

  Part of him hoped so, but a far larger part was horrified. He liked his rough-and-tumble way of approaching life, his freedom to snatch a little loving from unlikely candidates. Not that a mate would necessarily curtail his freedom, but if she accorded him permission to fuck where he wished, well then he’d have to do the same.

  He gripped the wheel harder. No bloody fucking way would his mate—his—screw around on him.

  “Aye, there it is. The reason I’m mateless and will continue to be,” he murmured to the empty car. “I’m a sodding, unrealistic bloke stuck in centuries-old morals.”

  He’d nearly reached the turnoff that would take him away from Denver, heading north toward Golddust. As things stood, he was only about thirty minutes from the exit leading to the feedstore.

  Despite his stern lecture on why he wasn’t good partner material, protectiveness surged. He still couldn’t believe Stephan would have left his niece unguarded, especially after what happened to his mate. If Niall had been there, he wouldn’t have let Sarai out of his sight. Perhaps he had ulterior motives, but his primary one would have been to make damn good and certain nothing bad happened to her.

  “Stephan!”

  The cat shifter didn’t answer, so Niall tried again. Still nothing. He signaled and pulled off to the side of the freeway. Easier to employ magic without the car’s metal surrounding him. Once he was standing next to the car, he tried again. When Stephan didn’t respond, Niall sent magic zinging ahead, but it was wasted effort. He was too far away to sense anything.

  He tugged his cell phone from a pocket. Usually he hated the thing, but tonight he was hoping for a miracle. He opened his browser and typed psychic shops+Denver. A list populated, and he scrolled down, anxiously reading each name and wondering if Sarai would have named her store that.

  Until he reached Sarai’s Charms and Crystals.

  “Yes!” He fist-pumped the air and noted the address.

  He jumped back in the Toyota and gunned it, narrowly missing another car as he careened back into the flow of traffic. He tried to raise Stephan a few more times, but as he drew closer, he quit. If the man had been captured again— Niall blew out a disgusted breath. What kind of fool fell into the same hole twice?

  Anyway, if Stephan had been kidnapped again, no point in alerting his captors help was on the way. A mage was more than capable of forcing a telepathic link with Stephan, and Niall hoped his earlier broadcast about the location of the shifters’ meeting place hadn’t been intercepted.

  He silently blessed his wisdom in bringing the iron blades. He’d nearly left them behind, mostly because they’d be hard to explain if one of Colorado’s finest pulled him over for speeding, something he was frequently guilty of.

  He dragged the phone out again and tapped the navigation program, using the voice feature to feed in Sarai’s address. A tinny female British bot told him where to turn and how to avoid traffic jams. Even with her assistance, it took him almost twenty minutes before he pulled up a discrete two blocks from Sarai’s shop.

  Exiting the car, he probed with magic, keeping a delicate hand. No reason to blast enough power to alert any magic wielder within a half-mile radius of his presence. Elation surged when he was almost certain he got a hit off Sarai’s unique energy—and her uncle’s. Threading more power, he checked again, wanting to be sure.

  This wasn’t like charging vampires in the middle of nowhere. He needed a wee bit more subtlety and stealth in a crowded neighborhood. Niall walked behind the Toyota and opened the trunk, intent on grabbing the same blade he’d used earlier. He’d appreciated its heft and its follow-through as he swung it.

  Lights flared from behind him. He waited for the car to drive past, except it was moving really slowly. And then it stopped. A spotlight flared and a robust, “You all right there, fellow?” augmented by an electronic speaker was so loud it hurt his ears. The light would have been worse if it was after dark.

  He slammed the trunk. “Aye, mate. Quite well. I’d be even better if you’d stop trying to blind and deafen me.”

  A uniformed man got out of the squad car. “Sorry. Standard procedure. Looking for something in your trunk?”

  “As it happens I was. A tire gauge. Right front’s looking a wee bit on the flat side.” Niall threaded suggestion beneath his words. Everything was fine here. All the cop needed to do was move on.

  The tall, thin officer dressed in a beige uniform and carting a full gun belt walked closer, eying Niall. “Humph. Figured you might be drunk and hunting for another bottle.”

  “Sure and my family are a right bunch of boozers, but the bug never bit me.” Niall laid on the brogue and stepped aside. “Feel free to have a looksee inside. You won’t be finding aught of interest.” He pulled the passenger door open and upped the ante on his subliminal suggestions.

  “Thanks.” The cop bent and looked inside, shining a flashlight over the beat-up interior of Niall’s car. “I’ll be damned. You didn’t lie to me.”

  “Why would I?” Niall smiled as he chivied the officer with still more magic, desperate to have him get back in his car and leave.

  The man must have felt his last blast of compulsion because he shook his head, staggering a little as he retraced his steps, got into his cruiser, and took off without so much as a backward glance.

  Niall didn’t waste time feeling guilty. Worst the cop would have tomorrow was a headache, while the ten minutes he’d just wasted might mean Sarai and her uncle had been spirited away.

  Or killed.

  He ran back to the trunk, snatched up the saber, and locked his car before moving as fast as he dared toward Sarai’s shop. He shrouded himself, blending into the afternoon as best he could. No one should see him, unless they looked with magic of their own.

  He’d memorized her address, and when the building came into view, he rocked back on the balls of his feet taking stock. Her shop was in one of those multistory affairs housing many different businesses. He could figure out which one was hers on the directory inside, but this type of structure offered far too many places to hide.

  Although, that could work in his favor as well.

  He risked another scan, breathing a sigh of relief that she was still inside. He waited until two people—a couple with their arms around one another—cleared the main entrance before walking through it. A few folks milled around the foyer, but not one of them glanced his way, which told him his enchantment was working.

  Someone as tall as he was carting a medieval weapon would be sure to draw at least a few surprised stares—even in the middle of a city as sophisticated as Denver.

  He stopped in front of the directory both to locate Sarai’s shop and to memorize the layout of the building. She was on the lowest level, which at least meant a ready exit without risking jumping from three floors up. Easy for his jaguar, more challenging in his current form. Too bad the cat couldn’t swing the iro
n blade.

  A chuckle from within told him his bondmate was ready and waiting. It loved a good fight even more than he did.

  Intent on maintaining the element of surprise as long as possible, he slid into a stairwell and ran down one flight, taking the steps three and four at a time. As he’d expected, the corridor was deserted since most humans were lazy and preferred elevators.

  He sidled into the downstairs hall, looking left and right. The stench of vampire hit him almost immediately. He gave Stephan an F for judgment, except he was here too, and clearly paying for the folly of leaving his niece unguarded. Niall dug deeper and caught a whiff of mage magic. No mages here, but the vamps must have borrowed liberally from them to allow them to strike in full daylight.

  Damn. That was unfortunate news. If he couldn’t count on vampires limiting their offensives to the dark of night, it compounded his problems a hundredfold.

  Sarai’s shop was at the very end of an empty hallway. Even though most humans couldn’t sense magic, something about the ambiance down here would send most all of them scuttling for a place that didn’t make the small hairs on the backs of their necks quiver.

  “Hurry,” his jaguar urged.

  Niall trusted his cat’s instincts. He dropped his invisibility illusion and focused all his power on the upcoming confrontation. A growl followed by a snarl sent him running to Sarai’s door. He angled a blast of magic to unlatch it and charged through.

  Sarai was in wolf form, moving so fast her body was a gray and black blur. Two vamps were quick, but she was faster. A high-pitched bark drove the vamps back from where Stephan sprawled on the floor in a spreading pool of blood. He wasn’t dead, not yet, anyway.

  Magic flowed, thick and viscous. A perimeter shot with lightning bolts formed around Stephan, creating mini-explosions when shifter magic collided with vampire power.

  Time to end this charade. Niall swung the blade, slashing through the nearest vamp’s neck. Black ichor spewed, stinking of a charnel pit, but he was getting used to how they died. He took aim at the second vamp, but it took on an insubstantial aspect.

  “Bloody hell, you are not leaving,” he shouted and focused magic to hold the creature from Hell in place long enough to end it forever.

  He hefted the blade and brought it down squarely atop the vampire’s head. The vertical gash went from crown to sternum as he split the abomination wide open.

  Power flared blue-white out of the corner of one eye; Sarai was human again and kneeling over Stephan’s inert form. Magic poured from her outstretched hands as she probed for damage with healing enchantments.

  Niall kicked the door shut. No reason to give some poor unfortunate sod nightmares for the rest of his natural life. He didn’t expect humans, not with all the power floating about, but someone might be drunk or stoned enough to blunder through all the warning signs.

  He joined Sarai on the floor. She’d turned Stephan over and added a few crystals to her healing efforts. They glowed in a bevy of shades. The vamps were already turning to smoking piles of bone and dust. Too bad their hideous black blood never vanished along with their flesh.

  “What happened?” he asked Sarai.

  “What didn’t?” she countered. “Help me with my uncle. I’m almost done.”

  “Tell me what to do. Healing isn’t exactly my forte.”

  “Open your magic to me.”

  He forged a channel between them, holding it open and acutely aware of her nakedness. Her body was as close to perfection as anything he’d ever seen, and her musky vanilla scent cut through the vampire stench. He ached to run his fingertips over her silky skin, so he clasped his hands in his lap to counteract the temptation. With all the power oozing from her, she’d taken on an iridescent glow that made her looks otherworldly. Like a goddess.

  Sarai straightened. “There. He’ll come around soon. Thank god the bites were superficial.”

  “What happened?” Niall repeated, needing to know. “We have to get out of here before more of them show up.”

  She pushed to her feet and picked her way around dead vampire and pools of ichor to a cabinet against the back wall. Opening it, she pulled out clothing and proceeded to dress. “I was doing research when I sensed vamps closing in. Since things went so badly with me in my human body, I shifted. What’s left of my clothes are somewhere beneath that mess.” She pointed at the vampire remains.

  “Weren’t you warded?” Niall tried for an even tone. He didn’t want to come across as critical.

  “Yes, but I didn’t trust it. Not totally, and I’m stronger as a wolf.” She blew out a tight breath and slid her feet into running shoes, leaving the laces untied. “I’d no sooner shifted than they blasted through my door as if it wasn’t locked. They lunged for me, but between my ward and my wolf, they couldn’t grab me.”

  She inhaled raggedly. “Their fangs were out. Ready. Christ but I was scared. I should have left the back window open. If I had, I could have jumped out of it and been gone. I was plotting a way out, edging around them to position myself close to the door, but then Uncle showed up. The minute they saw him, they ignored me. One of them latched onto his neck.

  “He yelled at me to take my chance and run, but no way in hell would I have left him here by himself.”

  Niall inclined his head in respect. “You are one gutsy woman.”

  “No, I’m not. I was so scared my legs were shaking even as a wolf. I jumped on the vamp that had Stephan. Bit him as hard as I could.” She made a face. “They taste worse than they smell. I spit out all the blood I could. I know it’s bad to drink from them, but who would want to? It shook me off, so I leapt on the other one. Anything so they’d leave Stephan alone.

  “I was switching from one to the other, trying to keep them too busy to drink from Uncle again, when you showed up.” She latched her gaze onto his. “It’s the second time you’ve saved my life today. And Stephan’s. Thank you.”

  Niall picked his way across her shop until he stood next to her. He balanced the blade against a bookshelf and opened his arms but didn’t say anything.

  She looked him up and down, from head to feet, taking his measure before she walked into his embrace and folded her arms around him. He held her trembling body against him murmuring in Gaelic as an imperative to shield her now and always raced through him.

  With protectiveness came possessiveness—and knowledge. This woman was different. She was someone he wanted by his side, not just in his bed, although he longed for her that way as well.

  He buried his hands in her hair, turned her face upward, and covered her mouth with his. After a heart wrenchingly long moment, she kissed him back, all heat and fire with nibbles, bites, and her tongue jammed into his mouth as she molded the length of her body to his. Her nipples formed stiff peaks against his chest, and his cock surged to attention wanting more than the warmth of her belly.

  Stephan groaned from his spot on the floor.

  Niall broke their kiss and offered a rakish grin. “We need to get out of here, but hold onto those impulses. If the goddess grants us grace, we’ll find a spot of solitude to love one another.”

  Her lips, beautiful lips soft from their kisses, parted in a vixen’s smile. “I’d like that.”

  He started to launch into telling her how lovely she was, but this wasn’t the time. Danger was far too close.

  Stephan was on his feet. “Come on,” he urged. “Ditch the romantic crap. Let’s teleport to Golddust.”

  Niall grabbed the saber with one hand and Sarai with the other. “We’ll drive partway,” he said. “My car’s close.”

  Stephan didn’t disagree. “Probably just as well. My magic is sucking fumes.” He turned to Sarai. “Why didn’t you leave when I told you?”

  “Maybe because I didn’t want to live with your death on my conscience. I’m not a coward, Uncle.”

  His blue-eyed gaze softened. “I love you. I wanted you to be safe.”

  She wrapped her arms around him. “I know. But that str
eet runs both ways.”

  Niall cracked the door. The hall was still deserted. He motioned Sarai and Stephan through, and all of them ran for the door marked Exit. No reason to return to the lobby. None at all.

  They made it to his Toyota, and he fired the engine, intent on driving as far as they could before the dirt road to Golddust became impassable. Teleport spells were power pigs, and he had a feeling they’d need to marshal their resources for an inevitable showdown.

  Just his luck. He’d finally found a woman who lit his soul on fire when shifters faced their worst problem in several hundred years. He might not live through it. She might not, either.

  Maybe he should hold off on his declaration of caring, of maybe even wanting her for his mate, until this was over. It might make him a coward, but he’d never viewed himself as mate material. He had a lot of explaining to do, justifications for his man-whore ways, and the task felt daunting.

  “That’s right,” the jaguar blurted from the sidelines.

  “What’s right?”

  “Go hide behind a rock like you always do.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “What does your jaguar want?” Sarai asked from where she sat next to him.

  “Nothing. It’s always chatty after we’ve faced danger.”

  She sent a penetrating look his way but didn’t say anything more.

  He tried out and discarded words to add to what he’d said, but every combination would just dig him in deeper. For all his womanizing faults, he was honest, and he wouldn’t compound the half lie he’d already told Sarai by piling another on top of it.

  Chapter 6

  Sarai was thrilled when Niall stood close, arms extended. She wanted the comfort of his arms, wanted her body plastered the length of his. Yet, she took a moment to gather her thoughts. She’d felt the desire spilling through him when she’d drawn magic to work on Stephan, but he hadn’t taken advantage of their proximity.

  Even now, he was offering her a choice. He hadn’t simply pulled her into an embrace. She breathed in his scent, a clean forest-after-rain smell that soothed and inflamed her by turns. Only a step separated them, but when she took it she felt she’d crossed a huge divide.