With a nod from Sarvarna, Lizzie approached the cage. Her steps were smaller and more hesitant than Mischa’s, but I admired the way her eyes didn’t waver from mine. She was young and scared, but she had bravery in aces. Under different circumstances I might have liked her.
When she stopped in front of the bars, she did the same palm up routine. I placed mine on hers, and then as a spur of the moment decision, tried to project the way I did with Talley.
Take what you can. I have nothing to hide, I thought at her.
Her eyes widened in shock before narrowing in concentration. I started feeling a slight pull where our hands met, as if the leeching of my thoughts and emotions had a physical representation. Lizzie probably would have stayed that way for half the day, but on a nod from Sarvarna, Hashim stepped forward and pulled the Seer back.
“Well?” Sarvarna asked. “Did you get anything?”
Lizzie’s cheeks flamed red once more. “Just bits of memories and emotions.” Once again I felt as though a Seer was lying about what she pulled out of me. Oddly, I found that comforting. “But I didn’t feel anything bad or sneaky. I…” She cleared her throat and stared at her bellybutton. “I don’t think she’s a Thaumal… Thaumam…” Another clearing of the throat. “I don’t think she’s a witch.”
The thing about the power surrounding Sarvarna is it was different than the Shifters. Take Travis, for instance. As long as he was within five hundred feet of me, I knew he was there because Wolf Scout acknowledged the existence of another predator. I could feel the competency of his wolf, the strength and the cunning. It was a constant, no matter his mood or the situation. The power was like a favorite hoodie. It just draped over him, there but not screaming for attention.
On the other hand, Sarvarna’s power didn’t just scream, it pitched a full-on temper tantrum. Instead of a hoodie, it was an every one is going to be talking about this for years Oscar gown. A living, breathing, reaching out to choke you Oscar gown. And Lizzie’s declaration of my innocence pissed it right off.
Sarvarna took a deep breath, the power around her quivering in anticipation. “I think Scout and I need some time alone.”
Even without telepathic abilities, I knew exactly what True was thinking. See you later, dead girl was written all over her face. Lizzie and Mischa, on the other hand, kept those carefully blank expressions.
“Are you sure, your highness?” Mischa bowed her head slightly. “Your safety is important to us.”
“Lizzie has assured me there is no malice in the Thaumaturgic’s mind. Besides, the Strategos will be waiting at the top of the stairs. I will be well protected.”
Apparently, the Strategos atop the stairs bit was news to Mandla. “Your highness, I think it would be in your best interest for us to stay. The Polemarch ordered us to ensure your safety.”
“And I’m ordering you to wait upstairs.” The power focused on the African. “Will you defy me?”
“No, your highness.” He bowed with stiff shoulders and firmly set jaw. When he rose he turned his glare to me. “If even one hair on her head is harmed, you will come to a slow, painful end.”
I nodded - because how else was I supposed to respond to that? - and Mandla followed the others out the door.
Which left me alone with the chick who would one day stab me to death in the middle of a field.
Awesome.
“How do you find your accommodations?” she asked, leaning against the wall opposite my cage. She crossed her ankles and arms, looking for all the world as if she was comfy and relaxed. I may have believed it if I hadn’t been able to feel the power whipping around or seen the way her pulse skipped in her throat.
“The Ritz has nothing on you Alphas.” I plopped down on the mattress, tucking one leg up underneath me. Two could play at this It’s All Cool game.
Her chin pitched up a fraction of an inch and those dark, dark eyes met mine. “It’s meant as a punishment, not a restraint.”
“Really?” They didn’t mean to restrain me? Good to know the steel bars and generator backed-up force field were just for show. “And what am I being punished for?”
The curve of her lip told me something I hadn’t even considered until then. She didn’t believe I was one of the rumored Thaumaturgic. No, this was personal between she and I. Problem was, I had no idea what her issues were. After all, I just met her.
“Crimes against our species, of course.”
“Of course,” I said, infusing my voice with a healthy dose of sarcasm. “All this is just a rather elaborate form of being grounded. Has nothing to do with the fact that you’re scared to death of me.”
A surge of power. “I am not afraid of you.”
“Then why are you all the way over there?”
Jase has often accused me of being antagonistic. According to him, the reason I had less than a handful of friends in school wasn’t because the general populace was as mentally deficient and unkind as I suspected, but because I met even the hint of conflict or criticism with a snarl and complete disdain. I think he exaggerates to the point of lying, but there was something in me that felt the need to push when things started getting ugly. Usually, it wasn’t a big deal. Loud, obnoxious boys backed off when they realized I wouldn’t cower like a little girl. Snarky, condescending girls tended to shut their mouths when insults got slung back in their direction.
Perhaps the battle techniques which worked well for the war known as school wasn’t best employed on the Alpha Female.
The concrete walls nearly vibrated with the power slamming through the basement. Sarvarna jerked from the wall and strode over to the cage, mouth tight and eyes hard.
“You don’t want to do that,” I said as she reached for the handle of the cage. “At least turn off the electric fence first. Getting shocked hurts like dammit.” Which I knew from the time last night when I forgot about that aspect of my prison.
She froze with her hand an inch from the metal.
“Unless they’ve given you the code, you’re going to have to call one of the Muscle Set down here to open it.” I leaned back onto my hands as if we were discussing shades of toenail polish. “Although, I doubt they actually do it. Unlike you, they seem to have the good sense to know that even if I can’t win, I will certainly take a few of you down with me.”
When her arms went lax down at her sides, her held tilted to the left, and her eyes went unfocused, I thought I’d managed to actually scare her. Which probably wouldn’t have been a win in the long run - people tend to just flat out kill things that make them pee their pants - but I had a brief moment of pure and total joy.
Then our other conversation started.
You didn’t think I would find you? Sarvarna’s in-the-head Seer voice sounded pretty much the same as her regular voice, except the British accent didn’t sound so much Elizabeth Bennett as Delores Umbridge.
“I haven’t exactly been hiding,” I said out loud as an act of rebellion.
You’ve broken the rules, Lilith. Choosing a human? Smart, but against the rules.
“Scout. The name is Scout. Is it really that hard to remember?”
I will not let you take what is mine.
I could’ve pointed out how I was yet again clueless, but what the heck? The chick was full-on crazy and really starting to piss me off. I let a small smile play at my lips. “You can’t stop me.”
Chapter 24
That was my last visit until the night before my trial.
For two weeks, the only person who fully entered the basement was the slender woman who obviously belonged to Akay and mini-Akay. I never learned her name since the others only referred to her as “Omega,” which was apparently what the Alphas called their servants. She would bring in my food three times a day, and take my trash and dishes back at the end of the night. She never spoke or looked at me directly. And the entire time she was in the basement, one of the Shifters stood at the door and pointed a 9mm at my head.
I never really understood the whole pr
ison as a punishment thing until then. I always thought it sounded more like a vacation than anything else. You didn’t have to go to school or work or whatever it was that ate away the time you should use to actually live your life? No responsibilities, all your needs taken care of? Didn’t sound like a bad gig.
I was so very wrong. Being cut off from the people and life you know is a very special torture, one guaranteed to get under you skin and drive you to distraction. Staring at the same four bare walls day in and day out? An ocular nightmare. Pacing the same fifteen by fifteen square foot of concrete over and over again? Cabin fever at its finest. Knowing nothing you did was private, that someone was always aware of where you were and what you were doing? Creeptastic. Having no one to talk to? The voices in your head just get louder and louder to fill the silence.
And, of course, that whole gun pointed at my head thing was all sorts of not fun.
My sanity came in the form of the cheap paperback novels I read at least twice each and eavesdropping on my guards. At least one Shifter was stationed outside my door at all times. During mealtimes, there were two. Mandla, Hashim, and Travis were all on rotation, as were the three slightly less dominant Shifters.
Cory the Canadian was what you would expect out of a Canadian named Cory - outdoorsy and cute in that boy next door kind of way. Assuming the boy next door neighbor is an actual boy and sports a six pack. My next door neighbor is close to sixty and carries a beer gut.
Rocco was from Italy and spoke no English, which was perfectly okay with me. I got the basic gist of what he was saying as his eyes roamed my body, and I was pretty sure it had nothing to do with taking a ride on his Vespa to get a gellato.
The last of the lower stationed Shifters was named Bob, which wouldn’t have been quite so odd if he hadn’t obviously been born and raised somewhere in Asia. I overheard him explain, in broken English, that he was from China, and his birth name was a bit difficult to pronounce, so he renamed himself Bob, after Bob Dylan.
While Cory, Rocco, and Bob kept me mildly entertained, it was the person who got them talking who really pulled me through those long days. From the time he woke up every morning until he went to bed every night, Charlie hovered around the staircase leading into the basement. I don’t know exactly what he was doing up there, but I do know what he was doing every time he opened his mouth.
God bless him, Charlie was trying to give me intel.
It was subtle, a bit of friendly chatter mixed with some gently probing questions. The Alpha Pack was reluctant to talk to him at first, but eventually he charmed his way into their good graces. It was what made Charlie Charlie. I would have pissed them off by saying something flippant, and Jase would have tried bullying them into saying something. Neither of us would have gotten far, but Charlie handed me fighting style preferences and weaknesses on a silver platter by remarking on something he noticed during a training or sparing session, which apparently happened just outside the window he was parked beside eighteen hours of the day.
Not only that, he also kept me up-to-date on what was happening in the real world. Talley was being encouraged to spend time with the other Seers, who were being very friendly and outgoing. My parents were calling on a regular basis, but Jase was able to keep them from worrying too much. Angel tried to run away from home to find me, but only made it to the end of the driveway since she required two adult sized suitcases to travel.
And Charlie wasn’t the only one making sure I heard a familiar voice every now and then. At least once a day Talley would come to check on Charlie. She never stayed too long, and mostly just made sure he was eating something, but she always made sure to say something about what she and Jase were doing and mention they were okay.
I was grateful for everything my two best friends were doing, but as the days drug on I got more and more disgruntled because Jase never came. I would hear him moving around on the upper floors, but he never made the journey to the top of the stairs. I felt petty and stupid for getting upset about it, but his lack of consideration hurt.
Then, two days before the trial, yet another knife was stabbed into my chest.
I was laying on the bed, which was starting to feel like brick after excessive overuse, re-reading the steamy parts of what was quickly becoming one of my favorite romance novels. The drone of the TV upstairs had been so constant that at first my ears didn’t know how to register the lack of noise. Then, I heard the voice I’d been straining to hear for nearly two weeks.
“So, you wanted to see me?” Jase asked. By the way his voice dropped a few octaves below his normal speaking voice I knew he was talking to a girl.
“We’ve had so very little time alone these past few weeks,” the Alpha Female replied. “I wanted to see how you were enjoying your time with us.”
There was some shuffling, then a plop and the sound of a chair shifting under the sudden application of weight. “It’s been cool. You guys have a pretty sweet set-up here.”
“We’ve done the best we could with the rental.” She sounded as if she was talking about a two room apartment as opposed to the biggest house on Kentucky Lake. “After growing up at the Den, it’s hard to adjust to meager accommodations, but the Omegas work hard to ensure our comfort.”
“If this is meager accommodations, I’d love to see what you call fancy.”
There was a long pause. “Would you, Jase?”
“Yeah, totally. I mean, there is a 52 inch plasma TV with an XBOX360 and a PS3 in every bedroom. And have you seen the inside of my shower? There are like five different heads shooting water at you.”
A throaty laugh. “No, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of being in your shower.”
I swallowed back the bile surging into my throat.
“You really should come take a look sometime.”
My hands itched with the desire to slap some sense into my brother. What the Hades was he thinking flirting with the Alpha Male’s mate? Although no one ever mentioned it, I’m pretty sure that was a guaranteed way to get his “meager” accommodations changed to where he was sharing a room with me.
“Tempting,” Sarvarna practically purred. “You know we have some very nice bathing facilities at the Den also. I would really like for you to see them.”
“Seriously?” There was the sound of something clunking against the floor, probably either the legs of the chair Jase was sitting in or his feet.
“Quite. I’ve seen you practicing with my Pack every morning. You’re quite the skilled fighter, and your Dominance is quite evident. Of course, it’s rare for a coyote to be accepted into the Alpha Pack, but not impossible.”
Someone stood, and by the sound of the footsteps as they paced about, it was Jase.
“This is about Talley, right? You want her, and so you’re asking me to join the Alpha Pack knowing we’re a package deal.”
“Of course we want Talley, but I also want you.”
There was no denying the double meaning there, which was just all kinds of wrong. I mean, she was holding his sister captive until the new moon, when she was going to kill her. Not only that, she was mated to an old, ugly guy who was, by definition, the most badass Shifter on the planet. Hitting on Jase wasn’t just creepy and wrong, it was supposed to be impossible. Was Charlie wrong about that whole no boinking anyone else while mated thing? Or was she just trying to play my brother?
For the record, I was going with option two.
And apparently, so was Jase.
“You don’t believe me?” Sarvarna asked.
“I’m a coyote—”
“One of the strongest coyotes I’ve ever met. By the time you’re in your prime you’ll easily be the most dominant coyote Shifter in decades, if not centuries.”
“I’m not—”
“You are.” Some rustling and chair being scooted against the floor. “Trust me, Jase. You’re special. I’ve Seen it. In the future, you could be a Stratego. Don’t you want that? Don’t you want to be one of us?”
“Yo
u know I would be honored. Anyone would be. It’s just that Talley isn’t really sure about the whole thing, and she’s my mate. I can’t just drag her into it. That wouldn’t be fair.”
“What if she wasn’t your mate?”
I swear I heard Jase gulp.
“What do you mean? I’ve made my declaration.”
“I am the Alpha Female, Jase, or have you forgot?”
“Of course not, but—”
“There are no buts. My power is absolute. And if, during the hearing to determine whether Talley belongs to you or her father’s Pack, I should decide that you were sincere in your declaration but refuse to accept it based on the Alpha Pack’s need of you both to be unattached, then you would be free.”
“And Talley…?”
“She can return to either the Matthews Pack or Hagan Pack, or join us. It would be her call.”
There was a long silence, and I knew Jase was thinking over the offer. Don’t do it, I thought at him so hard my head ached. If the White Witch offers you Turkish Delights, tell her to shove off. Come on, Jase. You know this is wrong.
“And just like that, Talley wouldn’t be my mate any more?”
“She’s not your mate now.”
“I made a declaration.”
“And it was a brilliant strategic move. Really, I applaud you on your choice. Talley has a reasonable amount of power, more so than most Seers in your area. By claiming her, you solidified your position as the most Dominant Shifter in the Southern United States, if not all of this country. But it wasn’t necessary. You would have been anyway. Let me relieve you of your burden.”
My dislike of Sarvarna transformed into pure, unadulterated hatred at that moment. Locking me in a cage and threatening my life was bad enough, but referring to Talley as burden in that snotty British accent, sounding as if she was speaking about something gooey clinging to the bottom of her shoe? Unacceptable. I waited for the sound of Jase’s fist connecting with her face.
It never came. Instead, I heard, “What do you need from me?”
Time Mends Page 20
