by Leela Ash
Chapter 9.
By the time Friday rolled around, Rex had come to hate Ancestral Puebloan ruins. He hated their cliff dwellings. He despised their kivas, both round and square. And he especially loathed the fact that they always built the damned things in the middle of nowhere on some godforsaken mesa you had to plod through five miles of badlands to reach.
He loved Rats, though. SueSue and her people were a gift from heaven. Every Shifter within three counties ‘worried’ about this new Fangs of Apophis threat. And every one of them would gladly sit down over beers and tell Rex exactly what they thought he ought to do about it. The Rats? Well, they were the only ones lifting a paw to help. Them and the First Flight folks. SueSue’s Kind swept through the desert, peeking below cliffs and poking their noses into every dusty cranny. Nobody found another blob monster–but they returned with scores of pictures of beat up old ruins.
Having checked a couple sites himself, he knew how much work that took. And he was grateful.
He’d be more grateful if they’d turned up answers. But none of the pictures revealed what the Fangs were up to. Five days later, the Witch Hares could guess where the Fangs might hit—but not why.
Finn and Bree Donnelly wanted to keep going. One of these sites ‘had’ to hold the proof they needed. Rex, he wasn’t convinced. And while he puttered around out in the badlands, work piled up at his resorts. So, around noon, he begged off of another hike out to some godforsaken rock pile. While the Dragon and his Mate drove off in search of clues, he headed up to Ancient Ways, where a dozen silly ‘emergencies’ demanded his attention.
Three hours and one very relieved manager later, Rex decided to call it a day. Maybe there were demon-summoning lunatics in town, but a man still needed to relax. Toss back a couple of beers, shoot some pool, and he might feel human again. Though….
He glanced down the hall toward housekeeping. Beers went down better with company.
All week long he’d struggled to keep his mind on his work. That shouldn’t have been hard. Alone in the desert, he ought to watch for any sludge monsters or Fangs lurking along the trail.
Instead, time and again, he found his thoughts drifting to her.
Paige. He worried about her, endlessly.
Monday afternoon was the worst. Halfway out to a ruin, a hunch hit him like a sledgehammer. Something was wrong at Ancient Ways. Paige was in danger! Saturday, with the sludge monster, was still fresh in his mind and so he ran five miles, before he could get bars on his phone. Cursing himself every step of the way for not getting her phone number.
Yet, when he finally managed to get Mrs. Gordon on the line, she assured him that all was well. Nothing amiss at Ancient Ways. Paige was fine (though cleaning a particularly dirty room). Why, she’d just talked to her.
By then, he was embarrassed. Rex Fairburn was not a man who let vapors and moods and hunches run his life. He turned around and stomped all the way back to that ruin, feelings be damned. But no matter what he did, those ridiculous worries wouldn’t leave him. With gritted teeth, he finished his job, hiked to the car… and then couldn’t stop himself from driving past Paige’s house.
She was there, sitting in the living room. Watching tv.
Not a sign of anything wrong.
He thought about checking in with her, but other memories stopped him. The softness of her body, warm and welcoming beneath him. The way she lit up with joy at his touch—and how the sadness that seemed to surround her vanished under the blaze of their passion.
No, better to keep his distance. He didn’t trust himself to remember that he couldn’t get in a relationship right now. One hook-up was a shame. Two in two days… well, that was just low. Paige deserved better.
The whole shitty week passed like that. For five days, he’d ghosted through his life, lost in worries, memories and dreams of her. The kids weren’t any help, either. They babbled about her all the time and made an embarrassing fuss when their old sitter, Judy, showed up to watch them.
“Judy never does anything with us!” Micah groaned.
“She makes eggs raw!” Sam wailed.
They probably had a point. As far as Rex could see, Judy spent most of her time watching tv and fiddling with her phone. At least she was competent, though.
When she showed up.
Once more, Rex stared down toward Ancient Ways’ housekeeping unit and rubbed his chin. Would Paige be willing to quit? He could hire her as his full-time….
Mate! his Bear suggested.
I’m not looking for a Mate, he reminded it.
A flood of images filled his mind, floating in a sea of longing. A Mate to sleep beside him. A mother to watch over his children. A Mate to fight beside him. Food when he came home to the Den. Someone for him to bring food back to. More kids!
That made him smile. Apparently, five small children wasn’t enough for some creatures! Yet, in the midst of its foolish, Bear-ish yearning, one painful truth remained: he missed having a full family. He missed a woman’s touch, the way she transformed a house into a home. Rex loved his children, both natural and adopted. But he couldn’t deny that caring for them, raising them, took a toll on him. They deserved more. They deserved better.
They deserved a mother.
Mate!
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you want to call it.”
Even as he admitted this, a cold void opened up in his heart. His children had already had mothers—and they died. All this talk about the Fangs of Apophis made him wonder if those deaths had truly been accidents… or something worse.
Could he drag Paige into that? Into a world of Shifters and magic and deadly conspiracies? Could he ask her to subject her own son to the risks his children were forced, by birth, to face?
Could he risk caring for her, knowing that she might well die?
No. That was too much. For her, and for him.
Beer? his Bear urged. And her?
Rex burst out laughing, then quickly choked it back before someone heard. “Think you’re being clever, don’t you?”
His Bear said nothing. 800 pounds of pure, honey-covered innocence.
Okay, he had to admit, it would be fun. And he wouldn’t give in to temptation, because he knew where he stood. Where they both stood; Paige didn’t want danger or a new relationship either. Besides, it was just a beer, right?
His Bear radiated approval.
Right. What the hell. Rex headed down the hall and knocked on Mrs. Gordon’s open door.
“What?” she snapped. As soon as she recognized him, that querulous tone vanished. “Oh, Mr. Fairburn!” she simpered, quickly smoothing her dress. “I didn’t know you were stopping by today!”
“Sorry to intrude. Is Paige Hall still here or has she gone home for the day?”
The older woman sighed with loud, dramatic sorrow. “I’m afraid she didn’t come in today.”
All of the week’s fears rushed back and with a bone-rattling snarl, his Bear came awake. Rex tried to calm it; there were plenty of reasons for missing work. “Is she sick?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t really say.”
“You’re her supervisor.” The edge of his Bear’s rage turned those words into a growl. “Surely, you don’t let cleaners come and go without explanation? What’s going on?”
Faced with that anger, the supervisor wilted. “Well, it’s… it’s not really my place to say, but….”
His Bear’s agitation grew, and with it came an intense urge to start batting all the furniture over. Rex gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the angry creature. “Tell me. Now.”
Mrs. Gordon’s nervousness collapsed into a sulky, bitter pout. “Paige Hall completely changed after… well, after this weekend.”
After they made love. He scowled at the implication.
“Suddenly, she was too good to clean messy rooms! Yelled at me, too, about how she’d talk to you if I didn’t do what she said. I told her to go back and do her work, but she walked off in a huff. I had to send someone else to fi
nish her work after the room complained.”
That didn’t sound right! Paige had been very clear about how much she needed this job….
Until he gave her a couple thousand dollars.
The first tendrils of doubt crept into his thoughts. His Bear wasn’t having any of this, but Rex couldn’t force that dark question from his mind.
“Next morning, she wasn’t here. No call. No excuses. I phoned her myself, of course, and she just said she had no plans to come to work. Maybe for a couple weeks.”
Enough time to spend the cash he gave her?
“As if I’m going to keep a job open for her that long! Unless you want me to, of course.” Mrs. Gordon cringed and glanced up at him. “She seemed to think that because of your… because she knew you, she could do that.”
“She most certainly cannot,” Rex seethed. “You’re in charge of housekeeping. Staffing is your decision and I’ll respect that.”
The woman melted into a gloating simper. Lost in his anger, Rex barely noticed. How dare Paige take advantage of his generosity? How dare she presume that a brief hook-up….
DO NOT INSULT OUR MATE! his Bear roared. Rex ignored it too.
…gave her special privileges at work?
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Gordon. I’ll speak to Miss Hall and tell her she needn’t return to Ancient Ways.”
“Thank you so much for taking care of this, Mr. Fairburn! Thank you!”
He stalked out of the office, buffeted by two contradictory rages. His anger with Paige. His Bear’s fury with him.
Something bobbed in the midst of that sea of anger. One small fact, something…forgotten. Rex paused, baffled by that sense that he was forgetting something. Something obvious, and important.
Damned if he knew what it was, though—and he wasn’t a man who worried about whims and hunches.
Shaking his head, he stormed off to confront his reprobate lover.
He had to pound on the door for a full minute before Paige answered. The first sight of her face—ashen, drawn, hostile—kicked the feet out from under his ‘righteous’ outrage.
“What do you want?” The screen door stayed closed.
“We need to talk.” He tried to summon back his indignation, while his Bear snuffled wildly, sure something was wrong.
She just stood there. Silent, staring into the distance until he was sure he’d need to push his way in. Then, with a sigh, she unlatched the hook. “Whatever.”
What the hell had happened? Rex followed her to the living room, noting the house’s complete silence. Curtains covered all the windows, filling its rooms with a cool dimness. Dirty dishes littered the coffee table. The only light came from the television. Volume off, it played silent infomercials, endlessly.
Paige collapsed on the couch. “What do you want?”
Uneasy, he circled around the chair rather than taking a seat. “I want to know why you haven’t been at work this week.”
“Your partners,” she spat the word, a helpless rage filling her eyes with tears, “told me to stay home.”
Partners? Did she mean the Donnellys? Or Mrs. Gordon? “What are you talking about?”
The tears welled higher, threatening to spill down her cheeks. “Is this a test? I know I’m not supposed to ‘whine’ to you.”
None of this made sense. His agitated Bear shifted from foot to foot, grumbling. “Did Mrs. Gordon forbid you from speaking to me?”
Now, the first tear did break free, tracing a glittering trail down her face. “Go away. I won’t talk. I’ll pass your damn test,” she hissed.
“What test? What do you mean?”
She didn’t answer. Shivering, she tucked her knees under her chin and wrapped her arms around them, a ball of pure, undistilled misery. Rex longed to pull her close. To force her, with kisses and the heat of his touch, to trust him and confide in him. But she’d made it clear that the passion they’d shared was gone. Long gone.
The quiet weighed on him. It drove his Bear crazy and Rex found himself shifting from foot to foot, waiting for an explanation. The creak of the boards beneath his feet was the only sound to break the stillness.
And suddenly, he realized why that fact was so ominous. “Where’s Jake?”
Paige screamed, a wail of grief that froze him in his tracks. “Screw you!” she howled, over and over again, as she dissolved in tears.
Bear and man acted as one, united in their love for her. Rex bolted to the couch and swept her into his arms. Weeping, she pounded on his chest, pouring her pain into those blows. Silent, stoic, he let her pour her feelings out until, rage spent, she collapsed against him. As sobs shook her body, he held her, gently stroking her hair. In the end, even grief failed her. Paige grew still as despair killed her sobs.
And when she was quiet, he was still there. Waiting patiently.
“Tell me what happened,” he begged her.
“I can’t.” Her tear-stained face turned up to him, brown eyes accusing. “If you’re not working with them, why didn’t you come when I called?”
“You called? When?”
“Monday. From work.”
Wait. Monday…?
Nausea twisted his guts and his Bear keened, a howl of shame and horror. Something had happened that day. Something that he, in his pride, had ignored.
He’d failed this woman. Badly.
Our Mate. This time, Rex didn’t even have the strength to correct his grieving Bear. We didn’t protect our Mate.
“I didn’t get your call,” he whispered.
“Mrs. Gordon spoke to you…didn’t she?” When he shook his head, anger lit her eyes. A welcome change from the grey despair that had choked her. “Then she lied. She said you thought I was stupid to worry.”
“About what?”
“I can’t tell you. Jake’s life depends on it. Please, you have to trust me!”
“I do trust you. It’s them I worry about. Paige, listen to me.” Rex dropped to his knees in front of her, holding her hands. “If Jake is in danger, you need to tell me what happened. I will save him, I promise. I screwed up on Monday, but I swear that I will protect both of you.”
“They said I’d never see him again if I ‘whined’ to you,” she said in a stricken whisper.
Wrapped in the power of his Bear’s will, his voice vibrated with confidence. “What makes you think they’ll let Jake go even if you do what they say? Paige, you need to make a decision: what do you trust more? Their threats—or my word?”
Fear and love warred in her face. A mother’s terror for her son. The hope, faint but intense, that there was someone in this world she could lean on. A friend, a protector… yes, a lover who could shield her from the world’s evil.
In the end, love won. “I trust you,” she whispered.
Then the truth came out. The deadly standoff in Room 415. Mrs. Gordon’s lies (Rex made a note to fire that damned harpy as soon as life calmed down for five minutes). Jake, and the men who kidnapped him.
“Were they Shifters?”
“How could I tell? I mean, nobody Shifted.”
As a Shifter himself, he’d know just by looking at them. And yes, there had been some Shifters at Ancient Ways this summer. Not unusual, since it was the nicest resort in the area. For a human, though, it was a tough question. “Did they say or do anything unusual?”
“Like, um, kidnapping my son?”
“Ugh. I mean, ‘normal’ for a human criminal. Our Spirit Animals often echo in our human form. Like me. I’m a Bear. Bears are all big guys and ladies. Wolves lose their shit if they get locked up in a small room.”
At that, she straightened. “Novak didn’t handle the wait well. He kept pacing back and forth across the room.”
Good! That was a clue. “Maybe a Wolf then. No women, so probably no Hares. You said the fixer was a small man with a skinny face. When you saw him, did you get any hunches or feelings?”
“I knew he was bad news. No matter how polite he was, there was something about him. Something…
.”
She hesitated, at a loss for words. “Untrustworthy?” Rex suggested.
“Yes! Exactly!”
“That’s common for Rats.” It took a long time to get used to that poor Kind. “Okay, so we’ve got a Wolf and a Rat. You probably didn’t get a chance to learn anything about their boss.”
“No, I… hang on! They did say something weird. Novak insulted him. He called him a ‘worm’ and the fixer didn’t give him grief for that.”
A Worm. Rex felt his stomach drop at the word. He was a Bear, fierce and strong. No enemy ever made him back down. But Worms were as bad as it got.
Paige spotted his doubt in a heartbeat. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Should he lie? Protect her from the terrible truth?
No, that kind of ‘protection’ crippled your Mate.
Damn you, Bear! Now you’ve got me saying it!
“You remember Finn Donnelly?”
“Yes. I’m not forgetting the first time I saw a Dragon.”
“Well, when a Dragon gives in to evil, their Spirit Animal tears itself apart. Claws its own wings off. Once that happens, we don’t call them ‘Dragons’ anymore. We call them….”
“Worms.” She understood what that meant for her son. He could see it in her stricken, ashen face.
“I don’t know why a Worm would spare you. That’s the only detail that doesn’t make sense to me. But, well, I think we’ve got a huge problem. These guys have to be working for the Fangs of Apophis, the gang Donnelly told us about.”
Her shoulders slumped as despair returned. The sight of it roused his Bear into a red-hot, protective anger. “What can we do?”
He needed help. But who?
Donnelly seemed like the obvious choice—and the only Shifter in the state who would stand a chance going toe-to-toe with a Worm. But he was as subtle as a freight train. If they had to fight, they had already lost. Jake would be dead or gone.
And he couldn’t do that to Paige. Saving her son was the first order of business. Kicking the Fangs’ asses would have to wait.
“I’m going to ask for a bit of help.”
“No!” She sprang to her feet, eyes widening. “If we tell everyone, they’ll find out! They…!”
