by C. T. Adams
“Thank you, Ten Bears. I’m glad you could be here for this.”
He dipped his head in acknowledgment. “I’m glad so many of us could be here for this. When Will told me of the future he’d seen—”
It was a good point. “Why did we only lose Luis? Didn’t you say that several of my pack would die?” She still couldn’t quite get over the fact that her Tio Luis was gone. He’d meant so much to them all. They were dealing with it in the only way they knew how, with tears and prayers. Penny had the pack to help her through it; helping her to be strong for her children. Luis, Jr.—Louie—the oldest, would take over the store, and had helped set up the supposed accident that had claimed his father’s life. The police bought it. Luis had been known for working too long, and drinking too much, and taking risks at the store without helpers. The tendency had put more than one cast on his body, because he wasn’t a strong enough shifter to heal without help. So finding him crushed by a massive antique oak wardrobe hadn’t seemed out of line to the officers or ambulance attendants. Of course, it helped that Will happened to be shopping for furniture that day, and helped convince them.
Ten Bears smiled, that quiet, patient smile she’d known for so long. Was it really Will’s smile she was seeing, faked for so long that it had become his own? “You changed the future, Cara. It was Paco and Rosa who were meant to die… not Luis, but I couldn’t bear to tell you. When you accepted the help of another, the timeline altered. Five years ago, or even one, you wouldn’t have allowed yourself to get close to Adam. You would have fought the binding and your sister and her family would have paid the price.”
“I know.” He was right. But her family had paid a price, one she wasn’t sure could ever change. One of the pack was gone, would never return. And as she looked out over the crowd, she saw how the pack members gathered together at tables—including the new members who nobody except the wolves ever met before today. She could see the suspicion in the eyes of her other pack, the dozens of human familia who now felt a difference. They saw a closeness among the shifter members that hadn’t been there a month before and jealousy had been born out of the noticing. She didn’t have to walk up to each person to smell it… the fans in the room corners carried it to her nose. However slight, there was a rift now—and she vowed she wouldn’t let it grow to the level of fear and hate that she’d experienced through the minds of Jenny, Jill, and, yes, Adam. The Minnesota pack had allowed it to go too far. No, she would find some way to include the others in the circle. Maybe they could all help with Luis’s float. It was now going to be a tribute to him and their family’s contribution to past Tequila Days events. And just for this year, it would be Tequila Days. The city council had agreed to honor Luis with that small gesture… after the impassioned pleas of many older citizens at a special meeting. Definitely, the whole pack would participate. They were all Sazi, would be Sazi for as long as she ruled. She would keep her pack whole.
“I know you will.” She looked up to see Adam smiling down at her and touching the chair next to her. “We’ll keep it whole together.”
Cara believed him, because she could feel the determination inside him. She felt other things, too, and they made her smile. “I was afraid you weren’t going to make it.”
“I should have made you work with Councilwoman Calibria. She’s a total pain in the ass.”
She chuckled, remembering the tall, demanding Belgian woman who’d arrived and treated them all like the lowest of peasants who were expected to do her bidding and then thank her for the privilege. She threaded her fingers through his and raw power flowed through her, giving her a little boost of strength as he nodded a greeting to Yolanda and Ten Bears. Yo touched Ten Bears’s hand and they both stood up and offered excuses to give them a little privacy. Cara watched Yo walk across the small room to chat with Stephanie, who was looking a little lonely in the corner. Billy had put in his notice yesterday and the deputy couldn’t quite decide how she felt about it Ten Bears wandered over and clapped Will on the shoulder.
“Thankfully, she doesn’t like me. I couldn’t stand to be around the woman even back in academy, especially since her voice is high-pitched enough to shatter glass. It hurts my ears to be in the same room as her. I can’t imagine how you stand it. But has she had any luck with the investigation?”
Adam rolled his eyes and snorted. “Her voice doesn’t bother me too much. It’s the rest of her I can’t stand. But she is remarkably good with cleanup and thinks she might know who our Roberto really is. She just needs to bring in another council member to be sure before she says anything. Of course, that doesn’t mean they can find him, since Will and Ume lost his trail.” He looked down at her hand, which had started to tremble again. She just couldn’t seem to hang onto energy since healing Jenny. It came and it went again. Jill said it would probably take months to get back to normal. “You doing okay? Do you want to leave and go lie down and rest for a bit? I’d be happy to drive you home.”
She reached her head up to whisper in his ear. “If you take me home to lie down, I won’t get any rest.” The proprietary chuckle that slipped out of his mouth made her happy. He cupped her chin and gave her a slow, light kiss that was filled with his tongue and his scent. But the wolf was too tired to play and ignored the invitation. Probably time to change the subject. “Has anyone heard from Missy Foster?”
Adam nodded. “She apparently left a note in Will’s car. The pack didn’t notice her leaving when they followed us to the cave. She’s leaving town and is going to go back to the bayou to stay with her father for now. Will used a little persuasion on the hospital staff to make them believe they authorized her release. He said he’s going to wander that way as soon as he can get a few days off. She’s ready to talk, I think, and we need to find out more about the history of this group. Bobby and Tony can only do so much. They’re on their way to Columbia based on information they found at the village, but it sure would help to find out what they’re going to walk into before they arrive.”
Thinking of Will made her smile, and she could feel his irritation in the back of her mind. “Is he still pissed that the whole pack knows his secret?”
“Oh, probably. He was doing okay until your papi asked for his autograph after hearing about it from Paco—not teasing like I did. But for real.”
She shrugged and then whispered, “Well, sure! Papi’s always been big on all things American, and ¡Madre de Dios! how often does a person meet a real living national icon?”
I’m not an icon! came a terse male voice in her head that sounded very much like an eagle’s screech and she smiled.
Adam laughed and lowered his voice, too. “And yet his picture is on every piece of currency in every wallet here.”
Who’d have thought there was a real, physical model for the eagle on the dollar bill… and the quarter?
Again Will Kerchee’s voice filtered into her mind through the warm pack connection. Hey, can I help it if his first engraving looked like crap? I offered to sit around for a few hours so he could get it right. Who knew the design would stick around this long?
Her alpha’s laugh, rich and rolling, shivered her skin. You’re a classic, dude. Just accept that you’re gorgeous.
Will made a rude noise and shut down the mental connection as they both laughed. Then Adam looked at her. “So, have you decided? Should we tell them today?”
Cara looked out over the happy crowd. Everybody was dancing, including Jenny, who had bleached her hair back to blonde so she didn’t take away from Gloria’s thunder today. Even Eddie was taking a turn with Yolanda now, putting a happy face on his sadness. She was sorry he hadn’t felt he could come to her earlier about his lover, but really—what could she have done? She didn’t know what the future held for him, but she was going to actively search around to see if there were any potential suitors for him among the other Sazi in the world. It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t share his life as the rest of them did, with a partner. With someone to love and have forever,
like she had now.
Should they announce their engagement? She smiled at the man who had proposed to her just this morning. “No, not today. Let Gloria have her day without everyone fawning over us. The pack knows already. They’ll wait until we’re ready to announce it.”
An elderly woman walked in the room and she brightened. “Oh, look! There’s Abuela Carlotta!” She stood up and pulled on his hand. “I want you to meet her. She’s amazing!”
Cara literally dragged him across the floor to where her grandmother had settled herself, holding both hands on a sturdy black cane in front of her legs and looking stern. She slowly introduced Adam to her, trying to use words that she had already taught him so he could follow along.
Abuela Carlotta looked him up and down slowly while he smiled at her graciously. “So this is the new Alpha of your pack.” She nodded once. “I suppose hell do.”
Cara nudged Adam. She’d taught him an easy, respectful speech of greeting and prayed he remembered it. She pushed the instruction into his mind again. Simple. Very simple. Just say hello and ifs a pleasure to meet you. But he’d shut down the connection and she couldn’t see his thoughts.
He cleared his throat and bowed slightly. “Buenos tardes, Abuela. Es un gusto conocerle.”
She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding as the older woman raised her brows in surprise, and a small smile twitched the corner of her mouth at his accent.
But then Cara’s heart rose to her throat as he elbowed her slightly and continued. “And you were right, mi amor! Que mujer fatal.”
Cara froze with wide eyes and talking stopped at three surrounding tables. The scents were too many to sort—everything from embarrassment to amusement to indignation. Everyone turned to see what was going to happen.
The older woman had shock plain on her face as she stared up at Adam. But then he picked up Cara’s limp hand and kissed it lightly and winked at her grandmother with a sly smile.
The lights and music in the room were nothing compared to the music in her heart when her grandmother laughed, patted his hand and welcomed him into the familia.
Tor Books by
C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp
THE SAZI
Hunter’s Moon
Moon’s Web
Captive Moon
Howling Moon
Moon’s Fury
Timeless Moon
Cold Moon Rising
Serpent Moon
THE THRALL
Touch of Evil
Touch of Madness
Touch of Darkness
WRITING AS CAT ADAMS
Magic’s Design
THE BLOOD SINGER SERIES
Blood Song
Siren Song
Demon Song
Isis Collar
The Eldritch Conspiracy
To Dance with the Devil
NOTE: If you purchased this book’ without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the authors nor the publisher have received any payment for this “stripped book.”
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously.
MOON’S FURY
Copyright © 2007 by Cathy Clamp and C. T. Adams
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-5664-2
ISBN-10: 0-7653-5664-3
First Edition: October 2007
Printed in the United States of America
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