by Jami Gray
“Jenny’s dead.” Raine felt the truth of her words as she rose to her feet and stepped back from the pitiful remains. “It’s not Rio. He gains nothing. Tala wouldn’t destroy Cheveyo.”
Putting his hands on his thighs, Gavin pushed to his feet and stepped out of the shambles to the edge of the room near her. “You certain?”
Hands on her hips, she gave a sharp nod. “She loves him enough to pull stupid shit like laying a geas on me, but I can’t see her doing this.” She turned away and headed for the front door. “I need some air.”
She didn’t stop until she reached the car. Leaning her arms on the hood, she laid her head on them. Slow, deep breaths cleared the coppery stench from her nose and replaced it with sharp winter air. The soft thud of the door closing and the squeak of the screen door cut through the morning. The grinding crunch of gravel heralded Gavin’s approach. She didn’t bother lifting her head, even as he ran a comforting hand down her spine.
“Damn them, Gavin.” Her voice was rough. “Damn them both.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
While Gavin broke as many speed limits as he could, Raine called Mulcahy to warn him about the Chavezes.
“You have to get a hold of Vidis.” She pressed the phone to her ear and grabbed a hold of the chicken handle as Gavin careened around a sharp curve at a speed that left her stomach behind. “Make him stay away from the ranch.”
“I don’t know if I’ll reach him in time. He’s probably still in the air,” Mulcahy answered, tension riding through the line. “You two get over there and finish this.” Order given, he hung up, not giving her a chance to respond.
Her soft snarl turned into a sharp yip as Gavin took another turn on two wheels. “Gods’ sake, Gavin, don’t kill us before we get there.”
“Mulcahy won’t reach Vidis.” His calm statement was so at odds with his hair-raising driving, she could only stare.
It took her a couple of tries to find enough moisture in her dry mouth to get the words out. “Maybe, but we have to get to that ranch before he does.”
“And once we’re there?” He took his eyes off the road. When she paled and an undignified squeak escaped, he turned back. “That ranch covers a lot of land.”
Maybe it would be better if she closed her eyes. That way, when they flew off the mountain road into a fiery metal ball of death, she wouldn’t see it coming. She chanced a look out her window, but the plummeting drop speeding along had her scrunching her eyes closed. “Someone’s going to be there. Either Carlos or Andrew.”
“Not if Tomás took them with him to meet Vidis.”
“He wouldn’t take both and leave his mate undefended.” Shifters tended to be a little possessive of their significant others.
“We could waste a lot of time trying to track someone down.”
“We won’t need to track anyone down.” Since the car appeared to be staying on the road, she risked a look under her lashes. When a straight ribbon of asphalt greeted her, she let out a breath and pried her fingers from the handle above the door.
“We won’t?” His question was sharp.
“Nope. We’re going to trace them by their magic.” She caught the clenching of his jaw. Oh, he was so not happy about that. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off. “Don’t argue. You know it’s our best chance.”
His mouth snapped shut, his lips pressed into thin lines and his nostrils flared. “I don’t like it.”
She didn’t like it either, but they were out of choices. They needed to get to the ranch, find the Stealer and Xander before the Chavezes harmed Vidis. The thought of the Northwest Alpha sparked a new worry. She bit her lip. “You have to protect Vidis.”
Gavin shot her a puzzled look before going back to his kamikaze driving. “What do you mean?”
“Tala’s geas means I have to return Cheveyo’s magic. To do that, I have to destroy the Stealer.” Banked anger began to peek through. “With the way the spell is laid, I don’t think I’m going to be able to do anything but destroy the Stealer. Regardless of what’s going on.” Bitter resentment colored her voice. “The damn witch hobbled me.”
The phantom brush of fingers along the back of her neck eased her tension. “We’ll get through this.” She held tight to the assurance in his voice as he shot her a grin. “Besides, I think you’re underestimating Vidis. He’s more than capable of defending himself.”
Logically, she agreed, but based on her experiences with the Soul Stealer, she worried. Her magic was stretched thin. Cheveyo’s was even more fragile. Gavin would need every bit of his own skills and magic to hold everyone off of her, even as he protected Vidis and Xander. She needed to find a way to destroy the Stealer without taking herself and Cheveyo with it.
The sedan bounced over the rough road winding its way to the Chavez’s ranch. Neither Gavin nor Raine were interested in keeping their arrival quiet. They pulled into the crescent shape drive, got out of the car, and hurried to the front door. An oppressive stillness blanketed the ranch house. Raine would have preferred an angry furry welcoming committee. The edgy atmosphere left her leopard stalking under her skin, slowing her steps until she came to a stop. As Gavin passed her, she grabbed his arm.
He stilled under her touch. “What?”
She surveyed their surroundings. “I’m not sure.”
Late morning sun cast shadows over the porch and washed the front window in shades of gray. Heeding the animal prowling inside her, she gave her cat enough control to scent the air around them. Her mouth opened and she dragged air in to roll over her tongue.
The uniquely spicy scent of Gavin hit first, but it wasn’t what she was looking for. She concentrated on the cold wetness of the winter air under laid with the dry, dustiness of hay. Her nose twitched and she sucked in more air.
From behind the house a heavy muskiness emanated, accompanied by the faint wickers and huffs of the horses housed in the stable. Working past her cat’s consideration of the possible challenge of hunting the horses, she stretched her senses, closing her eyes to concentrate. On the very edge of her ability she caught it. The warm, metallic-copper taste she knew all too well. Blood.
“There.” Pointing, she opened her eyes. At some point she stepped around Gavin and moved to the side of the house. Her finger was aimed at the faded barn standing beyond the metal, oval fence dominating the back yard. “Something’s bleeding over there.”
Together they crossed the hard-packed ground. As they drew closer, they could see the large doors pushed back. A shiver crawled down her spine. The morning light didn’t pierce the gloom of that gaping hole where the muffled snorts and soft whinnies of the animals inside escaped. A hoof slammed into the wood, the sharp crack sent both Wraiths dropping into a protective crouch.
“What the hell?” she muttered under breath as her heartbeat began to level.
“Something has the horses spooked.” Gavin’s voice was soft as they continued forward.
The horses’ discomfort got louder, and the disturbing scent of blood became more pronounced. “You think whatever it is, is still in there?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Great.” She dropped a blade into her hand. Flexing her fingers around the familiar weight, she crept closer to the barn door. Taking a position to the side of the entrance, she caught the muted flash as Gavin held his weapon close to his body as he mirrored her on the other side.
His mental voice flowed over her. “Give me a second.” If they hadn’t been tied together, she would’ve missed the subtle wash of his magic as he sent it through the dim barn. “I’m not sensing anyone, just horses.”
He slipped into the barn and she followed, her eyes taking a disorienting moment to adjust to the lack of light. Her night vision flickered but was useless considering it was neither light nor dark, but that strange in-between gloom. Some light filtered in from the windows set high on the edges, but down near the hay-covered floor, the shadows reigned.
The scent of blood was stronger,
mixing in with sweat of the horses and the dry, scratchy smell of hay. The animals nickered and shuffled in agitation with only the occasional snap of iron against wood. She searched the dim interior for any hidden threats. A sharp whinny from behind a stall on the far end broke the tense atmosphere.
Gavin moved, leaving her to follow. Rounding the corner, she pulled up short as a wild-eyed horse pressed itself against the far wall of its stall, legs tap-dancing against the floor. Gavin’s hands were empty and he held them out to his side. His voice was a soft croon as he inched his way closer to the nervous animal.
Raine held her breath, sure that at any moment the horse would bolt and tap-dance its way right over him.
The animal’s nervous movements quieted until Gavin was finally able to snag the bridle hanging like loose hair ribbons.
Only then did Raine take in the empty saddle cinched to the animal’s back. Not wanting to set the horse off, she stayed near the stall’s opening, utilizing her mental link. “Since when did you become the horse whisperer?”
He kept his attention on the skittish horse. “I am a man of many talents.”
She couldn’t argue that one. “Where did he come from?”
Working his way back to the saddle, Gavin’s hands moved in long comforting strokes. “There’s blood on the leather.”
“How much?”
Continuing his petting, he studied the saddle. “Enough that whoever it came from can’t be in good shape.”
He began to undo the countless straps and buckles holding the saddle in place. The horse’s tail flicked back and forth. Although it kept a wide eye on him, it held still.
“What are you doing?” The urge to get out and move pulled at her. She didn’t know if it was the need to find out where the blood came from, or Tala’s damn geas starting to kick in. Either way, sticking around to play with the horse was not on her to-do list.
“I have to get this saddle off or the horses are going to go nuts.” He managed to undo the last strap, the muscles in his shoulders and back flexing as he hefted the saddle loose. He threw it over the sidewall of the stall and went back to the horse, who appeared a little less psycho. “Take it outside.”
“Excuse me?” Despite her irritation at his command, she tucked her blade away and reached for the blood stained saddle.
He moved to the far side of the horse and ran his hands over its back. “Blood upsets the horses.”
It wasn’t doing much for her either. Tugging, she pulled the saddle down, the weight heavier than expected. She took a step to regain her balance and noted the darker stains against the leather and streaking over the pommel. Blood.
Gavin’s hissing intake of breath told her he found more. If the amount on the matching side of the saddle was any indicator, it wasn’t just the rider who’d been injured.
“How bad?” She stepped outside and set the saddle on the ground.
Instead of answering, he shared the image of long gouges running from the horse’s ribs to its rump. She winced. Damn, the stupid animal was lucky it made it back to the barn. Which meant its rider couldn’t be too far away. She lowered her shields, hoping to catch some trace of the missing rider. Instead, the tugging from earlier came back, sharper than before. Turning in a slow circle she followed the insistent pull, sighting a dark flicker in the distance. Understanding dawned when the tug became an ache. The Stealer was out there. She wasn’t going to be able to fight the summons for very long. “Gavin?”
“Hmm?” His answer was distracted.
“I have to go.” The geas was done being polite. A sharp jerk and she was running toward whatever lurked out there. She fought, even knowing it was futile. Every time she forced her body to stop, a white wash of pain shattered her concentration and she was running again.
“Raine!” Gavin’s frantic shout echoed behind her.
“Hurry!” The compulsion was so strong. The combination of her magic and Tala’s geas kept her emotions distant. Under the inescapable urge, worry and fear roiled. Even the familiar comfort of her anger was muted, buried under Tala’s thrice-damned spell. A strange clarity emerged—find and destroy the Stealer. Faint worries darted like moths around a light, only to be burned to ash as the geas took over.
Her body came to an abrupt stop, leaving her weaving on her feet in the middle of a deserted grassy field. Air was a harsh burn in her abused lungs, but the need to move was gone. The geas and her magic were quiet.
Where was she? Even more important, where was Gavin? The edge of the forest spread in front of her. Turning in a circle, she could make out the faint outline of the barn in the distance.
She reached down their bond, strangely unsettled. “Gavin?”
An overwhelming sense of relief came back. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.”
“Where are you?”
She sent him an image of how the barn looked to her.
“Don’t move.”
She gave a soft snort. “If the geas wakes again, I’m not going to have much choice.”
“Two minutes, damn it,” he snarled. “Just give me two damn minutes.”
She couldn’t make any promises.
A quiet moan broke the silence, and she froze in sudden wariness. Only her eyes moved, searching for the source of that pain-filled noise. It came again, a soft muffled sound as if whatever was making it didn’t want to be heard. It was eerily similar to the sounds she made when crawling through the forest to escape the Stealer. Whatever dulled her fear disappeared. Terror flitted on the edges of her mind, causing her breath to stutter as she listened hard.
When the noise came again, she moved through the grassy plain, her steps light. The cool breeze weaved through the long blades of grass bringing the cloying scent of blood and terror. A couple more steps revealed a body to match the scent.
The gray-streaked brown hair was matted with blood. The scarred hand clawing at the earth was desperately trying to drag its wounded body across the ground. Kneeling, she reached out to the battered man, but stopped, hand in mid-air, rife with indecision. Considering the visible damage, no matter where she touched, she would hurt him.
His face was turned away, his soft whimpers a mere breath of sound. He was completely oblivious to her presence.
She crawled around him to see his face. It was a macabre mask of blood and torn tissue but the crooked nose prompted a memory. “Eric?”
Her soft question sent him scrambling away, those horrible fear noises rising in volume until they were shrieks.
“Shh—shh—I’m not going to hurt you.” She tried to calm him, but nothing she said seemed to penetrate whatever hell tormented the Chavez’s foreman. Keeping her distance, she grimly accepted there was nothing rational left inside the broken man. The Stealer had claimed another victim.
Long bloody gashes left his clothes in ribbons, the skin underneath in a similar condition. She was amazed he was still breathing. Pity rose. Even if Eric managed to heal his body, his mind was gone. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the one with healing magic. That was Gavin, or better yet, Tala.
Eric’s shrieks turned to airless screams, the sounds so filled with agony she would have given anything to make them stop. Sitting there watching him fight against the monster now firmly entrenched in his mind, ripped tiny tears in her soul. “Please hurry, Gavin!”
A soft touch on her hand opened eyes she hadn’t realized she’d closed. Gavin knelt in front of her. He pulled her hands from her ears, and under his touch, they curled into fists. “Eric?”
“I put him under.”
“Will he make it?”
Resignation carved deep grooves around his mouth and he gave a short shake of his head. She was unsurprised by his answer. Before she could ask anything more, he was ripped away from her.
Scrambling to her feet, she found him wrestling with a light colored wolf. The wolf was on top, but Gavin got his feet between them and heaved. The wolf flew to land in a pile a few feet away. Blades dropped into her hands as she d
ashed between the scrambling wolf and the man she loved. The wolf was bleeding, favoring a back leg, and blood streaked his light coat. Growls rumbled, his muzzle flaring to display a truly intimidating set of fangs.
Seems they found one of Tomás’s bodyguards. Raine gave him fair warning. “Carlos, you better back down, or this won’t end well.”
He ignored her, taking a deliberate step forward. She braced, but he stopped, his amber eyes focused on Eric. The massive head swiveled back to them.
Gavin answered his unspoken question. “We found him like this, but he’s not going to last.”
A ripple of magic ran over the wolf and when it faded, a naked Carlos limped his way over to Eric. Ignoring Raine and Gavin, he knelt down.
“I think you can put the blades away.” Gavin brushed his lips against her hair then stepped around her and moved to Eric’s other side. Out loud he addressed the kneeling shifter. “What’s going on, Carlos?”
“Just because he’s naked doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous.” She tucked away one of her blades, but the other would stay out until Carlos was gone. He was Tomás’s third, and right now anyone connected to the Chavezes was under suspicion.
“Stupid bitch has gone loco.” Carlos’s words were growled, evidence that his wolf was too close to the surface for comfort.
Standing behind him, Raine didn’t miss the deep claw marks that left his back a gory patchwork. Serious bite marks dotted his skin and along one side of his ribs, the edge of a dark bruise was forming.
Carlos turned his head to her. “If you’re going to stab me in the back, chica, you’d better make it count.”
She curled her lip. “If I’m going to kill you, it wouldn’t be from the back.”
“Nice to know.” He dismissed her. “Move to your man, then. You’re making my skin itch.”
She moved next to Gavin. “Who tore into you?”
“Lizbeth.” The anger in his one word vibrated in the air.
“What happened?”
Carlos ignored her and reached down to pick up Eric. Gavin grabbed his wrist, stopping him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
