It was in their nature.
Susan sighed. “I might be able to help in some way. And I stress the might.” She scratched her head. “I’m not making any promises but I come from a place that understands the way nature works in small detail.”
“What does that mean?” He sat, his stew forgotten and cold, listening to her crazy story of machines, other worlds and branches. What trees had to do with Susan’s magical travel, he couldn’t guess. “You come from another world that is Eorthe?” He couldn’t hide the incredulity in his voice. Subterfuge was never his strongest skill.
“I know it’s difficult to believe but it is the truth.”
Slow-burning frustration filled his gut. He needed a miracle and he brought home an insane stray. “What does it matter if it’s true or not? How does that help my people? You admitted to not being a healer.”
Setting her utensil next to her bowl, she met his fury with an easy grace. Her calm made him burn hotter. “Not a healer but a scientist.”
“What, by my hairy arse, does that mean?”
“It means I’m smart, you jerk. Remember knocking Benic out and tossing me over your shoulder? That wasn’t my idea.” Her sharp tone snapped him from his angered state. No one had spoken to him like that since the night he’d killed his father.
It was both refreshing and infuriating.
She wasn’t trying to preen for him, like some females did for alphas—she only stated what she believed to be the truth. Susan’s story seemed farfetched, but he had witnessed her travel through her gateway. Her type of smart could help. How many more graves did he have to dig before they found a solution? “I will take whatever you can offer us and be grateful.” He carried his bowl to the ever-growing pile of dishes. “Once you’re done eating, you’ll find Lailanie in the cavern. Tell her I’ve given you permission to help.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have graves to dig.”
Chapter Fourteen
Kele traveled the dark tunnels that separated the Payami den from the rest of the world.
Ahote prowled next to her, his silence not a good omen. He’d been far from happy with her when she’d interrupted his play with two females last night.
But after her bath, she’d returned to an empty room. Her first thought was Ahote had stolen Susan for the night. The human had expressed her lack of attraction to the male so it seemed the right thing to barge into his quarters.
She glanced at the huge, dark male in his feral form. He’d eventually have to speak to her.
She needed his help to search for Susan. The last thing she wanted was for the human to meet her mother alone in the dark. A shiver ran down Kele’s spine. She half expected to find Susan’s corpse. In either case, Kele required some muscle to back her so she dragged the male along.
Ahote didn’t understand her struggles within the pack. As a hunter, nothing was denied him. He chased after the willing omega females, who lived with open relationships, and he never participated in challenges for the more desirable dominant females. He lived an easy life.
Nothing was easy for her. One parent riding her to be stronger, more aggressive, and forgetting she couldn’t shift to save her life. The other coddling her as if she were a pup. But if not for her father, she wouldn’t have been able to coerce Ahote for help.
A day would come when Kele would find herself either omega or stray if she didn’t discover the key to her shifting soon. Her parents wouldn’t live forever.
Ahote knelt, sniffing the ground. “Susan’s scent is growing fainter. She’s definitely in the tunnels. We should go to the exit and speak with the guards.”
They had searched the den for Susan when Ahote discovered Sorin’s escape. That’s when he finally roused the other hunters. They hunted in pairs. Ahote had led Kele straight to the tunnels, stating that the alpha probably had already left the den by now.
Susan’s scent mixed with Sorin’s in the tunnels. Apparently, the Apisi alpha was determined to keep the human. Why did he have to take her? The poor female had much to adjust to if her story was true.
Chiming of light chainmail filtered into their tunnel. Ahote rose in one swift motion then shoved Kele behind him. “What is the vampire doing here?” he whispered over his shoulder.
“I don’t know.” She’d forgotten about Benic, her thoughts occupied with other things like missing humans.
Lantern in hand, Benic came around the bend and stopped as he came face to face with them. “Good morning.” He rubbed his head. His usually well-kept hair stood on end, and a deep purple bruise lined his jaw.
“What happened to you?” Kele moved around Ahote’s blocking bulk and drew closer to Benic.
“I lost my way in the tunnels.” He gave her a soft smile.
She touched his injured face. “And ran into several walls?” Not many things could bruise a vampire. They were quite resilient.
“I take it you’ve discovered Sorin has escaped?” A thin smell of anxiety whispered around the ferret. So faint she doubted Ahote could detect it. What had Benic been up to?
Nodding, she focused upon not only his words but the subtle shift of his emotions. Her father had taught her how vampires could play lies into truths. “He’s taken Susan.”
He glanced at Ahote. “I know. I found them in the tunnels. Sorin forced me to show them the way out.”
“Did Susan go with him willingly?”
“No, she voiced her desire to stay with me.” He spoke the truth. No denying her nose.
Ahote snorted. “She wasn’t given much choice between you and the Apisi dog.”
“She made it clear she didn’t want to remain with the Payami and be treated as a stray.” Benic set the lantern on the floor, the light almost too strong for Kele to see properly after traveling the dark tunnels. He confronted Ahote. “She might not have run if you’d had the balls to claim her properly.”
“A stray? Are you mad?” Ahote snarled. “She’s not even my species and probably couldn’t bear my young.”
Kele turned her back on the males. Fights like this were common among the young. Though Benic wasn’t young and didn’t usually indulge in the mindless violence. She examined the tunnel he’d exited. It wasn’t a well-traveled one. “Benic?” She spoke softly. “Were you really lost?” If he’d been lost then how had he led Sorin out?
The insults behind her quieted. “Yes.” He spoke. “Sorin hit me quite hard so my thoughts were muddled.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and clung to what little faith she still had in the vampire. “What were you doing in the tunnels?” She inhaled deeply and caught Susan’s scent. The human had gone this way. Had Benic led them astray?
“Yes, Benic.” Ahote grabbed the vampire by the shoulders and pinned him to the wall. “Why don’t you recount your tale for us?”
Kele watched as Ahote slid his claws into Benic’s flesh. The scent of old blood now masked all others in the tunnel. At this point it didn’t matter. Sorin had Susan and was probably already on Apisi land.
Benic’s green eyes glinted with the lantern light as his gaze slid from Ahote to her. “I went to Temple lands to search for evidence of Susan’s story.” He grunted as the shifter shoved him harder against the stone wall.
“You have no business on those lands, vampire.”
“I have every business. By vampire law, I own all this. It would be good of you to remember who your master is.”
Ahote’s muzzle opened wide enough for Kele to count his back molars as he dove to ingest Benic whole.
“Stop it!” she shouted loud enough for the echo to hurt her sensitive hearing.
Jerking to a halt, the shifter shot her a glare, his ears pinned flat to the top of his head.
She assessed Benic carefully. He was provoking Ahote on purpose. A distraction? From what? “Did you find your evidence?” The scent of his anxiety grew. Odd how the smell of fear hadn’t surfaced while a shifter threatened to eat him. Either Benic wasn’t afraid to die or he
thought himself a better warrior than Ahote. She didn’t care to find out the answer.
“Doesn’t matter now. The human is gone.” From her experience in dealing with Benic, that translated to a yes.
“Hold him still.” She waited while Ahote twisted Benic around and pinned him to the wall so he couldn’t move. Searching his gear and pockets, she found nothing, but within his pouch… “We were supposed to search for this together this morning.” She held up a white rectangle with Susan’s image somehow affixed to it. Scratching the surface, she couldn’t find an edge to the picture. “Amazing. Then you believe her story about other worlds is true?”
“What?” Ahote twisted to face her and must have loosened his grip on Benic, since the vampire tore from his hold. He didn’t run though.
Benic straighten his chainmail shirt. “Yes, I believe her.” Once again he smelled like truth.
She rubbed the odd, solid material with her thumb. “So you decided to search for this without me last night. You made it through the tunnels easily enough on your way out but lost your way on the return?”
“Why am I the one being questioned?”
Raising an eyebrow, she tried not to laugh. “Because you were the last one to see them, silly.”
He made a disquieting noise. “I’ve taught you too well, Kele.”
“Yes, you have, and you still haven’t answered most of my questions, ferret.”
“Very well. Sorin ambushed me within the tunnels and forced me to lead them out. I did my best to persuade Susan to return to my castle instead. When I had her convinced, Sorin attacked me.” He pointed to the bruise on his face. “He knocked me unconscious and I assume took Susan with him.”
“We should have protected her better.” Kele noticed Ahote flinched but she hadn’t directed the comment at him on purpose. Males… She rolled her eyes. Susan had worn Ahote’s mark. Sorin stealing her away would reflect poorly on the dark shifter.
Pocketing the strange item that bore Susan’s likeness, Kele left the males where they stood.
“Where are you going?” Benic grabbed the lantern and hurried to follow.
“Back to the den. Like you said, Sorin and Susan are long gone. There’s not much I can do for her.” The Apisi were known for their feral treatment of lesser pack members, but Sorin didn’t seem to act like his father who she’d only met once as a child and had had nightmares about for weeks.
Sorin didn’t stir those kinds of fears. Then again, she’d grown up and learned to deal with her terrors.
Ahote joined them, his ears twitching in annoyance. “All this bother and no results. Your father won’t be happy about losing Sorin.”
“I know.” She sighed. That meant the pack would walk on eggshells for the next few days. Better to stay within her rooms or better yet… “We can camp on Temple lands until my father’s temper cools. Susan expressed her wish to return home many times. Maybe she’ll come back in search of the blue light?”
Ahote caught her gaze, an understanding passed between them and he nodded. “I’ll gather supplies.” He’d be the center of her father’s displeasure if he stayed.
She restrained a smile. He was the closest thing she had to a sibling. They’d grown up together as pups and understood each other’s thoughts at times. If he wasn’t such a dog turd, she would have considered mating him.
Sunlight marked the exit out of the tunnels, and she hurried to leave her entourage behind.
However, Benic caught her in the den’s garden by the entrance. “We could organize a rescue.”
She spun around. Her long braid swung with the sharp momentum and landed over her shoulder. She gripped it like a security rope and tugged. “A rescue?”
“We can’t leave her there.”
“We can’t cross into Apisi territory either. My father won’t start a war over a female he considers a stray.” She didn’t need her nose to smell the scheming.
“She’s a different…” He glanced at some guards who were dressing by the entrance then pulled her farther into the garden. “From another world.”
“So what?” She released her braid.
“Aren’t you the least bit curious about what she knows?”
“A little. Not enough to break our laws. Or allow you to take her away.” She glimpsed Ahote over Benic’s shoulder as he dressed.
Her guard watched them, his face stern.
“Why would you think that?”
“Vampires always seek to control the unknown. I can see Susan’s whole existence inspiring new ideas in your mind.” The human had nobody to protect her. No pack, no family, no species. If Benic stole her away, no one would stop him.
“I’m not going to take her prisoner, Kele. She didn’t appear to want to leave with Sorin. She wanted to come with me.” Benic drew closer and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Who knows what he’s doing to her?”
“Sorin wouldn’t mistreat a person.” Doubt clawed her gut. She couldn’t ignore the terrible stories circulating about the Apisi.
“You don’t know him. The last Apisi alpha abused his people. Why do you think that has changed?” With a light touch, he trailed his hand along her arm.
Goose bumps blossomed on her skin, and her back went rigid at the suddenly pleasant sensation. “Sorin’s not his father’s son.”
“Is that so?” Something possessive flashed in his green eyes. “Why do you think this?”
“Not that it should be any of your concern but when I found Susan, I spoke with Sorin then. He could have attacked as Ahote did or attempted to make deals like you but he held to our laws. He acted as an alpha should.”
Benic clenched his jaw as he stared down at her. The ferret she’d played with growing up had changed to something darker, hungrier. “Monsters beget monsters. Sorin may act more rational than his sire but eventually, his feral side will prevail.”
“I don’t believe—but…” Was it possible? She didn’t sense evil in Sorin. Had she read her instincts so poorly? The Apisi pack had a bad reputation for a reason. What was happening to Susan as they spoke? Maybe Benic was correct and they should rescue her.
“Why the whispers?” Ahote gave the vampire a friendly smile as he returned, dressed and in civil form, but she knew the welcoming grin was false. “Making intimate plans?” He poked Benic’s hand on her arm with his sharp fingernail.
“Something of that nature.” Benic’s hand lingered on her arm a moment longer before dropping. He didn’t have a chance against Ahote in a challenge. Shifters were born fighters. Or at least, that’s what she’d always been told. But Benic hadn’t smelled of fear while in Ahote’s grasp.
Then again, vampires won their wars with words and tricks.
She groaned internally at the thought and glared at the fanged ferret. The sneak had almost convinced her to storm Apisi lands with his sweet words. By sowing doubts in her heart, Benic would have changed her mind.
Constant vigilance was needed when dealing with Benic. He knew how to manipulate others with his will, and a lonely female shifter could easily fall into his traps.
She retreated from both males. “No plans. He is just voicing his concerns for Susan’s welfare.”
Benic snorted and bowed slightly to her. “I’ll be in my room if you wish to finish our discussion.”
Kele watched him climb the closest set of stairs.
“Be careful of that one.” Ahote spoke softly by her ear.
She glanced at her primary guard. “Benic is just frustrated he isn’t getting his way. Let him sulk.”
“I don’t know what mischief he’s trying to involve you in but that’s not what I’m worried about.” He gestured to her body. “I don’t like the way his eyes follow you.”
“Me?” She laughed. Benic liked to flirt but he’d never expressed any real interest in her. “He’s harmless in regards to seducing me, Ahote.”
“Bloodsuckers are many things but harmless isn’t one of them.” He held her gaze for a moment before strolling farther into
the den.
She remained in the deep shadows of the trees, pretending not to notice as he sat next to a homely omega female who was darning some clothing. The female set it aside when Ahote joined her.
A few whispered words in her ear, and she followed him away from her chores.
Sighing, Kele crossed her arms. Not that she’d ever bed Ahote, but it would be nice if someone asked. Being a virgin was becoming tedious. She grabbed her braid and gave it a hard tug. Why shouldn’t she ask one of the unmated hunters to her room? Because she wished someone would ask her, want her.
None of the males viewed Kele as a potential mate. They saw the daughter of their overbearing alphas and a defective shifter who owned no feral side. She wiped a stray tear from her cheek before anyone could see it. Weakness was her enemy.
The chime of chains drew her attention from the doorway Ahote and his new lover had escaped through. Benic stomped down the stairs carrying his travel bag.
Now what?
The vampire frowned, appearing deep in thought as he approached her, and tossed the bag at her feet.
“Leaving so soon? I thought you’d stay and join us at the Temple.” She kept her tone light and uninterested but it was a lie. Benic’s curiosity ruled him. She doubted he would leave Susan alone until all his questions were answered.
“I’m going home.” He smelled of truth once more.
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh.” His honesty shocked her so much she forgot to mask her disappointment. She’d miss his devious company, no matter how irritating.
He stepped closer, pushing her farther into the garden’s shadows.
The hard wall of the den stopped her retreat. She couldn’t take a deep breath around the band of anticipation constricting her lungs.
He cupped her cheek, his body so close it sent tingles of alarm through her skin. “Come home with me.”
All her usual witty retorts vanished. “What?” Warmth ignited in her lower abdomen. Ahote had been right. She took a shaky breath. What would her mother think if she took Benic as a lover? Oh the rebellious havoc that would cause.
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