Taking It Off for the Coyote

by Serenity Snow

  Their eyes met then, and she focused on fire. He jerked his hands away and she sent images of blinding light to him. He held up his hand to shield his eyes and Cambrie shoved him back. The attacker grabbed her arm and she hit him with a telepathic blast.

  “Fuck,” he muttered. “You’re psychic?” He shoved her back. “Why couldn’t you just be an easy target?”

  He swung at her and Cambrie ducked. “Maybe you’re just bad at this. Why are you trying to kill me?”

  “Because you’re a problem we don’t want,” he answered. “This isn’t personal.”

  “It is to me,” she snapped. “What we?”

  “Sorrento,” he said and lunged at her. He slammed them back against the wall between the vanity and toilet. She grunted.

  “You know she’s my mate, and she’s going to kill you right?” she asked. It hadn’t actually taken Cambrie long to figure that out after they first kissed.

  The sound of Sydney’s voice was a sensual music that stirred fire inside her while the touch of her was a brand. Sydney’s over vigorous protection of her in the bar and at the club had been telltale signs that Sydney’s coyote was aware of the bond.

  The coyote would force Sydney to go hunting if he killed her. Not that she cared, she just didn’t want to die.

  “You won’t be able to hide from her.”

  “Shut up.” His claws replaced fingernails now as he stroked them along her jaw.

  She slipped into his mind this time. “Get off me. Now.”

  He backed up.

  “Why do you want to kill me?” Cambrie demanded.

  “You have the deeds to the Gray Tail property, and my boss wants them.”

  “Who is he?” she asked softly rubbing her back as she eased around him. She needed to be sure this was Patty’s pack. After all, Damien didn’t have the exclusive on the name.

  “Damien Sorrento.”

  Her breath stopped. Patty knew she was related to Skye and had the deeds?

  That was fast, but how? She backed to the bathroom door and stopped.

  “Okay,” she said softly and pressed her hands against her stomach. She inhaled and exhaled slowly. She could do this. Sorrento had trained her himself. She hadn’t been just an interrogation specialist for Midnight Howling. She’d been an assassin. “Where is Sorrento?”

  “He’s probably in the Gray Tail den arranging for the deaths of the resisters. He’s planning a party to poison them.”

  “Why?” she asked and her voice trembled. She knew why. That’s how Patty got rid of mass amounts of people without a fight.

  “His partner wants them dead. They’re resisting even harder now that the land is about to be taken from them. They all know you won’t be allowed to live.”

  “Neither will you.”

  The hyena fought free of her control, and he stared at her. At first, he blinked and then he grinned. “I guess there’s a change of plan.” He reached for her, and she hit him with a hard telepathic blast. He let out a cry before falling to the floor.

  His brain was becoming nothing more than a pile of cells that ceased to be able to function.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When Sydney arrived at the duplex on Leaf Street she tensed at the sight of the police cruisers and an SUV parked in the yard. She was out of her truck and at the door before remembering forming a thought to move. A cop wearing a bored expression was guarding the door.

  “Hey, Sydney,” he said giving her a nod. “You can’t go in.”

  “Like hell,” she snarled, and he moved to bar her way only to be tossed off the patio to the grass starting to turn brown. She ignored his growl and jerked the door open.

  In the sitting room, two cops were facing Cambrie who sat on the couch. She smelled fear and knew it was Cambrie’s.

  “I’ve told you all I know,” Cambrie said angrily.

  “It’s not enough,” the lanky tanned cop with blond hair retorted. “The guy didn’t just come over here and drop dead in your bathroom.”

  Fuck. There was a dead body?

  The girl was full of freaking surprises.

  “Sydney, get out of here,” the blond retorted. “This is—”

  “Over,” she snapped. The scent of Cambrie’s fear was pungent, but nothing in her face belied weakness. That made her coyote proud. “That’s what it is. Cambrie, go get dressed. We’re leaving.” She barely fought back the growl at seeing the compact woman in nothing but a tank top and boyshorts.

  Cambrie got to her feet and the other cop did as well. He barred her way and Sydney stalked closer and growled at him.

  “Move,” she growled at Cambrie.

  Cambrie flinched but did as she was told quickly stepping past the second cop and rushing to her bedroom.

  “Sydney, goddamn it! You’re fucking with my investigation,” the blond snapped.

  “So call the police, Tiny,” she retorted with a cocked brow. “I bet you’re here because she called you.”

  “Yeah, but there’s a dead man in her bathroom,” the darker skinned cop told her. “He didn’t just drop dead because she looked at him. We need answers!”

  “Then, she’ll come down with a lawyer in the morning,” Sydney told him icily.

  He growled. “We’ll finish this now,” he growled.

  Sydney snarled, letting her lip curl. He was a good foot taller and a strong beta, but he was about to become extinct if he didn’t back off. “Over your dead body,” she told him and shoved him aside.

  “Damn coyote,” he muttered and grabbed her arm. “I’ll arrest your ass and throw it in a cell if I have to.”

  Sydney looked up at him. “If you don’t get your hands off me Barney Fife, I’ll kick your ass ten ways to Sunday.” She kept her tone low and hard.

  He tightened his grip and Sydney looked pointedly at his hand and then swung on him and missed when he caught her punch. Sydney hooked her foot behind his and pushed back taking him to the floor.

  The bigger man grunted, but Sydney recovered quickly. She straddled him and closed a hand around his throat. “Keep your hands off me and your eyes off what’s mine.” She hit him in the eye and he let out a growl as she climbed off him.

  He leapt to his feet and Sydney gave him a look. She would rip out his throat if he made another move toward her.

  “Let it go, Darrell,” the blond, Tiny, muttered grabbing his arm when he would have struck back. “Jen can deal with that. He’s on his way.”

  “You don’t play well with men, do you?” Cambrie rubbed her shoulder and rage sizzled through Sydney.

  “Who hurt you?” she demanded barely keeping the coyote leashed.

  “You can’t beat him up, he’s already dead,” she said a thread of humor in her tone, but a soft whine escaped her and the sound slammed into Sydney like a freight train.

  Any doubts she might have been entertaining or thinking of using as a wall between her and Cambrie shattered. Cambrie wasn’t just her mate. She was a shadow kiss—the mate of a shadow coyote.

  These women had psychic abilities or healing skills. They showed an innate understanding of the shadow coyote shifter’s nature.

  She couldn’t walk away from her, no matter her doubts. It just wasn’t possible, her animal wouldn’t allow it.

  “I meant to be here sooner,” Sydney told her tightly.

  “It’s not your fault,” Cambrie replied with a shrug.

  “I should have been here sooner,” she murmured as her gaze slid over Cambrie’s beautiful silky brown skin. “Get some clothes on before one of those idiots walks his ass in here.” And gets his eyeballs pulled out for looking too hard.

  Cambrie’s ass was perfect, tight and sweetly curved. Her cami fit like a glove cupping her breasts and falling over a stomach that was almost flat.

  “It’s my body, and I’m not ashamed of it,” she said evenly.

  “I wouldn’t be either if I were you.” A man of average height and golden skin walked out of the bathroom with a small case in hand. He leer
ed at Cambrie’s backside and Sydney was on him punching him in the mouth.

  “Fuck!” The guy cried, and his case clattered to the floor.

  “Oh, hell,” Jenner, muttered. “Cross, get your ass out here.”

  “I was collecting evidence,” he said in a muffled tone as he wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. He started to cut his eyes to Cambrie again then thought better of it. Cross bent and picked up the case.

  “I need to talk to her, Sydney,” Jenner said tightly. “And hurry up and dress. The coroner is here for the body.”

  Sydney threw Cambrie an irritated glare to find her pulling on a t-shirt. “Two minutes,” she said. “But you’re not talking to Cambrie. She’s tired. They’ve been questioning her forever. Fatigue is starting to mess with her memory.”

  “Your brain’s the only one being messed with from the looks of things,” Jenner argued. “You’re lucky I don’t haul you in for assaulting one of my guys.”

  “I could show him what a true assault is,” she said through gritted teeth. “The pussy.”

  “Sydney,” Cambrie said in a chastising tone.

  Sydney glanced at her, the coyote scowling, but giving way to the softness of her tone and the humor in it.

  “I’m ready to leave. You can take me to the B&B.”

  Sydney snorted. As if. She had no intentions of allowing Cambrie out of her sight. “Let’s go then,” she said.

  Cambrie studied her. “Don’t hit anyone,” she commanded quietly. “I mean it.”

  Sydney grunted and took one of Cambrie’s two bags when Cambrie drew near.

  Jenner didn’t speak as he followed them from the duplex. “I just have a couple of questions,” he insisted as Sydney opened the truck door to toss the bags in back.

  “I was relaxing and the guy broke in,” Cambrie told him coolly. “He said his boss Sorrento wanted me dead.”

  “Are you sure he said Sorrento?” Jenner demanded with a frown.

  “Yes.”

  Sydney wasn’t surprised Cutter and Sorrento had put two and two together. They’d probably figured the sooner they got rid of her, the better. After all, as long as Cam was alive there was no way Gray Tail lands could be claimed by them.

  “Did he say anything else?” Jenner asked.

  “Not too much,” she said, and Sydney sensed a lie. She could tell Jenner did too this time by the way his brows furrowed.

  “I need the truth,” he said crossing his arms over his chest. “What else did he say?”

  “He just tried to kill me. I shoved him, he slipped, and hit his head on the floor,” Cambrie replied. “I’m a little tired. If something else comes to mind, I’ll let you know.”

  “Cambrie—”

  “Enough, Jen,” Sydney snapped. “She’s told you all she can remember.”

  “I’ll be in touch,” he said and turned on his heel and stalked back inside.

  ****

  Cambrie climbed into the truck aware that Sydney was watching her. She felt as if someone else was watching her too. But she didn’t bother looking around. Instead she closed the truck door and grabbed the safety belt and clicked it into place as Sydney climbed in on the driver’s side.

  She leaned her head against the headrest as she thought about Skye and her family. They were dead and Skye had protected her. She must have felt they weren’t going to let them live and she’d been right. Sorrento was as ruthless as Patty, but Patty was still the more dominant.

  She shivered and closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of silence as they sped along. Her skin chilled from the inside out and tears tried to escape. Cambrie forced them back.

  She’d save them for when she was alone.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cambrie opened her eyes as the car came to a stop. Her arms were wrapped around her and starting to stiffen up. Before them, a garage door slid open and she glanced to Sydney.

  “I told you to take me to the B&B,” she said. “I’m not your responsibility.”

  “I had no intentions of doing that,” Sydney murmured as she pulled into the garage. “But then, I think you knew that.”

  “I don’t want to fight with you,” she said tiredly. “And don’t presume to understand my thought processes.”

  Sydney cut the engine and climbed out leaving her alone in the cab. Cambrie shook her head and released her seatbelt before climbing out.

  “Where are we?”

  “Someplace safe,” she answered. “I’ll get Miranda to come over and look at your shoulder.”

  “It just hurts a little from being shoved into the wall.”

  “If he wasn’t dead I’d kill him,” Sydney muttered.

  “Thanks,” she said dryly. “What do you have against men?”

  “You’re about to get on my case about knocking around a wimp?” Sydney demanded.

  Cambrie’s lips twitched. “Would you even listen?”

  “Why’d you lie? What did he say to you?”

  She leaned against the passenger side door. “What do you think I lied about?”

  Sydney retrieved Cambrie’s bags from the back and dropped them on the ground before meeting her gaze. “Stop trying to fuck with my head, and just tell me what happened. You’re going to have to trust me if you expect me to help you,” Sydney told her.

  “I don’t expect anything from you,” Cambrie said with a shrug. “You don’t trust me or what I said earlier yet you expect me to give you what you won’t give me.”

  Sydney moved to stand in front of her. “I’m not the one who was nearly killed tonight either,” she snapped, leaning close enough to rest one hand on the truck next to the side of Cambrie’s head.

  “I’ve been there before,” Cambrie retorted. “I always manage to come out of it okay.”

  “How’d you kill him? And don’t give me that bullshit about shoving him and him falling.”

  “Mind if we go inside?”

  “I know your cousin owned most if not all of the land Gray Tail calls home, and I know Sorrento and Patricia want that land. I’m willing to bet they know by now you’re your cousin’s heir. With you alive that land is out of reach.”

  “So?”

  “So,” she said softly as she moved a little closer. “You can’t defeat them alone.”

  “What’s in it for your pack?” She rested a hand on Sydney’s hip and fingers stroked lightly.

  Sydney purred. “We plan to take over the pack,” Sydney confessed.

  She pushed Sydney who barely budged a step. “You want the land.”

  “I want you, but the pack won’t make a move against you as long as you’re not supporting our enemies.”

  “I told you already. I want them dead, but I’m not going to be anyone’s victim including your pack’s,” Cambrie snapped.

  “Good.” Sydney nipped her bottom lip before kissing her. Cambrie gave in to her own hunger and her lips parted beneath Sydney’s warm coaxing ones.

  She sighed and Sydney purred again. Cambrie glided her hands up Sydney’s back as she strained closer. God she was going to be a fool, and she knew it. She couldn’t resist Sydney, and she knew it was because they were mates.

  Though she wasn’t an animal, it was just still hard for a shadow kiss to spurn her mate. Only if the bond between them was never fully accepted by either of them could she cut the emotional ties between them.

  Sydney broke the kiss to look down at her with dark eyes. “We’ll discuss this later.” She pressed a kiss to Cambrie’s lips and bent and picked up the bags before leading the way to a door. “Get the door.”

  Cambrie did as she was told and stepped in to a long tiled corridor.

  “Sam has her accounting business here.” She took her up a short flight of stairs. “Garage apartment with a galley kitchen.”

  Cambrie glanced around the living area. It was smaller than the one at the duplex, but everything she could need was there. A flat screen mounted on the wall, a couch and two chairs with a coffee table, and warm earthy colors t
hat were soothing as well as inviting.

  The small kitchen was behind them separated by a breakfast bar.

  “Bedroom’s through here.” Sydney showed her to the spacious bedroom an attractive space of gray and blue. “I’ll let you settle in.” She dropped the bags on the chest at the end of the bed. “Miranda should be here soon. We’ll talk after.”

  Cambrie watched her head from the room with a sigh. She went to the window and pulled back to the curtain to look out into the side yard of the house.

  She’d been naïve and stupid considering that she had been raised not to trust too easily.

  The problem could be her love of fairytales and happily ever after as well as giving everything when she fell for someone. Both were a weakness in this world of human animals that could tear her body apart and savage her heart.

  There was no way to take care against Sydney and there never had been. The bond between them had begun forming the moment their eyes met. But she wouldn’t settle for less than what she wanted in life or love.

  Sydney was her soul mate, but that wouldn’t stop from finding love with someone else. It wouldn’t be a true strong love, but she could have a relationship built on trust and mutual respect. That was the next best thing to love.

  A knock on the door tightened her shoulders.

  “It’s me,” Miranda said. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.” She turned and the other woman gave her a smile. She didn’t return. “I told her I was fine.”

  “I’ll be a better judge,” Miranda told her.

  ****

  “Jenner told me Tommy can’t discern a cause of death,” Sam said the moment Sydney stepped into Sam’s office.

  Curled up on the loveseat against one wall was Adalyn, Sam’s mate. She gave her a smile, but wondered why Sam had let her stay.

  “She didn’t tell me what she did to him,” Sydney said. “Maybe she’s telekinetic.”

  “If she was, I don’t think she’d have let Connie get a claw on her,” Adalyn said. “But she is something. I can feel it. Her light is strong.”

  “My animal senses her mental strength,” Sam murmured. “What do you think she can do, Addy?”

  “I think she’s a clairvoyant of sorts, but I’ve been studying your books. She’s like me.”