by Leela Ash
Baxter didn’t do anything silly, like say ‘Pleased to meet you.’ Instead he joined the Witch leaning against the SUV and waved at Cynthia. “Now explain why I care about her.”
“She can get the Aegis for you.”
Maddie’s jaw dropped. “Are you insane? You’d give that to the Fangs?”
Baxter ignored her outrage – and didn’t even seem pleased with Cynthia’s news. “I’m assuming that means that you can’t, Ms. Mason.”
Under his cool stare, the Hare wilted. “Their security is insane! They’ve got two Dragons – two! – watching this thing. Plus forty or more Wolves… Bears… Rats… No one can get near the Aegis!”
“Except her?” the man sneered. His Hare scratched its ear with furious kicks of its hind leg.
“Not her. Her Mate.”
Maddie’s stomach dropped at the betrayal – then ice coursed through her veins as Baxter cursed and whipped out a gun. “You brought someone’s Mate here? If I have a Dragon hunting me now, I will blow your pea-sized brains out.”
He had a point. The first flicker of hope sprang to life in Maddie’s heart. If the Rite of Parting had truly failed, Griffin would know she was in danger, and he would move heaven and hell to save her.
“Not a Dragon!” Cynthia shrieked, cringing away from the gun pointed at her face. “A Chimera. Long gone, so it should take him hours to get here.”
“What the hell is a ‘Chimera’?” Baxter snapped. “Talk fast, in case he’s not as remote as you think.”
“Some weird Kind of Shifter. The Flight of the Snows has heard of them. He says the Navajo call them ‘Skin Walkers.’ They can take other creatures’ shapes.”
“Wait! Is he the SOB who took out my team at Stillwater?”
Confirming, to Maddie, that Mr. Baxter truly was a Fang of Apophis.
And one that knew about her Mate. This was what she got for trusting her Warren!
Another point in Griffin’s favor. One more day like this and I may elope with him!
If she survived that long. Baxter studied her with a calculating eye. “I’ve heard about Skin Walkers. They’re supposed to be, shall we say, morally flexible. Perhaps that means we can come to an understanding.”
Hah. Like Griffin would ever work with these monsters.
There wasn’t much point in talking to the Fangs, but Maddie couldn’t hold herself back. “He’ll find me, you know.”
Baxter nodded. “I’m counting on that.”
“So will my Warren. As soon as we go missing, you’re going to have half the Shifters in this region hunting for you.”
“But you’re not going to go missing.” A cruel, smug smile twisted his lips. “Your body will be found, burned beyond recognition, in the ruins of your car.”
With no warning, he turned his weapon on the sick Hare beside him.
BANG!
One shot shattered the desert’s stillness. Without a word, the poor woman crumbled to the ground. At her feet, her shivering Hare squealed in terror and vanished.
Maddie pressed a hand against her mouth, shivering. Even Cynthia seemed dismayed.
Baxter shook his head sadly. “I really wish you warned me you were bringing someone, Ms. Mason. I could have brought a spare body.”
Another shot. Cynthia slammed into the car beside her and dropped, blood bubbling from her lips.
“Mr. Lane? Arrange the accident.”
“Yessir.” One of the mercenaries retrieved Cynthia’s keys and began to drag the bodies into her car.
Maddie froze as Baxter’s gun drifted in her direction. “Ms. Hunter, please join me. We’ve got a lot of preparation before your Mate arrives.”
Chapter 13.
A day and a half after being kidnapped again, Maddie found herself in a remote compound guarded by a dozen armed Fangs. To lure Griffin close, Baxter locked a collar around her throat. One packed with enough explosives to disintegrate her. Leave the room, he warned her, and it would go off. Same if she tried to remove it. Every hour he typed some code to prevent it from exploding.
“Without me,” he explained, “you die. So you’d better hope your Mate doesn’t come in guns blazing. You’ll be dead before he figures out how to remove this.”
So she waited. Studying every hawk circling overhead, every coyote and hare that wandered close. Wondering which one – if any – was her Chimera.
It made her day a toxic blend of boredom and terror.
Baxter, on the other hand, was simply bored. “This Mate of yours doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to rescue you.”
“I told you, he’s not my Mate. He performed the Rite of Parting.”
“Never heard of any such thing,” the Hare sneered.
“Then get comfortable. We may be waiting forever.” Brave words – but if Baxter couldn’t use her as bait, what value did she have?
A fact that wasn’t lost on her captor. “You’re right – and I don’t have forever. Carpenter!”
One of the mercs popped his head through the door and saluted. “Yessir?”
“Clear the courtyard. I’m about to declare this experiment a failure.”
Maddie’s lips grew dry. This was it. She was going to die. Alone, out in the desert where no one would ever find her body. Griffin wouldn’t save her. Despite her dreams, the Chimera wasn’t truly her Mate. The Rite of Parting had done its dark magic. Despair, cold and leaden, drained away her last hopes.
Carpenter shuffled his feet. “Sir, that may be a problem. There isn’t enough room inside the compound to set off an explosion that big.”
“I did use too much C-4, didn’t I?” Baxter sighed. “You warned me.”
“If we take her out into the desert…” the merc began.
His boss waved him silent. “Too much bother. While it would be fun to watch you blow up, Ms. Hunter, that’s an indulgence I can’t afford right now. I’ve already wasted enough time.”
His slender hand dipped beneath his jacket – and pulled out a gun. Time slowed to a crawl as Baxter pointed it at her face.
“I can do that for you,” Carpenter offered.
“Why should I let you have all the fun?”
This is it. The moment I die.
Maddie steeled herself, fighting to keep the fear off her face. Everyone thought Hares were timid little cowards. Well, not her. She was going to die with dignity.
“Any last words, Ms. Hunter?” Baxter studied her face with an eager excitement. Praying, no doubt, that she’d burst into tears, scream, or run.
“None that I care to share with someone like you.” In truth, her last thought was of Griffin. She forgave him for his fears, for not loving her. Silently she whispered a short prayer. That his Rite of Parting truly had succeeded and he was free to live on, happy, without her.
Baxter shrugged, disappointed. Too late Maddie realized she did have another option.
If this collar explodes when I leave this room, I could take both of these monsters with me!
But as she started to rise, Carpenter drew his gun too.
And pressed it against Baxter’s head!
“Drop your weapon,” he hissed in a low, menacing growl.
The Hare’s eyebrow rose in surprise – but the gun he pointed at Maddie’s head never wavered. “Mr. Davis, I presume?”
Griffin? Here?
Delight and relief washed over her, dispelling the grief that had drowned her.
He came! He is still my Mate! Screw you, ‘Rite of Parting’!
He hadn’t quite ‘saved the day’ though. One twitch of Baxter’s finger and she was dead.
Beside her, her Hare froze into absolute stillness.
Trust Griffin. Trust our Mate. He’ll scare the predator away.
Maddie prayed it was right!
Though she hated to give him any credit, the Fang never even flinched. “It seems we’re at a bit of an impasse.”
“I have a solution.” Only one sign betrayed that this was her Chimera, not some mercenary: the glitter of hatred i
n ‘Carpenter’s’ eyes. “You put your weapon down. You take that thing off Maddie’s neck. Then we leave – and I let you live.”
“Mmm… no.” How could anyone with a gun pressed to his head not sweat? “That doesn’t work for me. Here’s my counter offer: you steal the Aegis for me. Your Mate remains here, to ensure your good behavior. Once you bring it to me, I take her collar off and you’re free to go.”
Griffin snorted. “Oh, of course. That’s totally believable. When you have everything you want you’ll just let us walk off into the sunset.”
“You’ll have to trust me.” The Hare’s grin was sharp and wicked.
“Or shoot you,” her Mate countered, eyes blazing. “I’m willing to bet that a self-centered SOB like you won’t risk his own life. Not for anything.”
“Normally you’d be right, but – alas, my friend! – you are royally screwed.” Baxter’s eyes never trailed to Griffin’s gun, not even once. “This woman is your Mate. Fate has hard-wired you to protect her. You won’t risk her death for anything. And this ‘self-centered SOB’ knows that. So put the gun down and stop pretending that you’re going to shoot me.”
As if some Fang knew anything about Mates! On the verge of laughter, Maddie froze as Griffin’s hand dropped.
“That’s better!” Baxter purred.
“Griffin, no!” She longed to leap to his side, to pull him close and shake sense into him. Unlike her Mate, however, her enemy was still prepared to kill. Though if her life was the price required, Maddie was willing to give it. “The Aegis is Stillwater’s only hope. If you give it to this monster, all of the town will die!”
“But your Mate won’t,” Baxter chirped, “and that’s all that matters, right?”
A tic in her love’s cheek betrayed the agony simmering beneath his stony, impassive features. It was a pain she prayed she could ease. “No true Mate would ever ask her Chimera to sacrifice his family. Not even to save her. You know what you need to do.”
Griffin drew a shaky breath – and, for the first time, Baxter’s smile faded. The tip of the Fang’s tongue darted out to wet his lips and his eyes darted between the two Shifters. “Can we skip the drama? Nobody needs to get killed… if you do what I say. Believe me, I want that gate closed as badly as you do.”
“Why the hell should we trust you?” Griffin sneered.
“Don’t. Trust my hatred instead.” Baxter’s eyes narrowed. At his feet, his Hare ground its teeth. A faint spray of froth peppered its muzzle, making the poor creature look rabid. “Nemagorix – the thing on the other side of that gate – attacked the Fangs of Apophis. I plan to teach him that that was a bad mistake.”
To her dismay, Griffin pursed his lips and considered the villain’s offer. “Griffin, it doesn’t matter!” Maddie cried.
“Saving lives does matter.”
“Nobody’s getting saved! The Dragons won’t let the Fangs just waltz in and ‘take care’ of Nemagorix. They’ll fight – and that battle will tear Stillwater apart.”
“Ahem.” Baxter cleared his throat. “May I add that I have a plan to avoid all such fights. Again, if I get what I want, no one needs to die.”
“What exactly is this ‘plan’ of yours?” Maddie sniffed.
“It’s private.” The Hare favored her with a disdainful smile. “I don’t share my plans with my enemies.”
Maddie locked eyes with her Mate, begging him silently to refuse this tainted offer. But it was hopeless. No hesitation, no doubt clouded his gaze. His love her for, his need to protect, was too strong. No sacrifice was too great. “I accept your offer,” he said, as she gasped, “on one condition. You take that collar off her.”
Baxter’s eyes narrowed and his Hare sniffed at the Chimera with deep suspicion. “Agreed… on one condition. You wear a GPS tracker so that I know where you are at all times. I’m not having you walk out of here, Shift into a lizard, then crawl back and spirit your Mate away.”
“Griffin!”
He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“But…!”
“No ‘buts’. I need to know you’re safe.”
That was the final, ultimate fact that doomed them both: he needed to protect her. All the way to the bottom of his soul, that one thought filled him. He was her Mate, and no foolish ‘Rite of Parting’ could change that fact.
It was up to her to make sure the Chimera didn’t pay a dreadful price to save her.
Though, with a little help, she knew just how to do that.
Heart thumping, Maddie shook her head. “I can see I’m not talking you out of this foolishness. Can I request one small thing though, Griffin? Will you demand that they make me comfortable? Last night it got cold and they wouldn’t even let me have my sweater.”
The Chimera scowled at Baxter. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t like your Mate and I don’t care if she isn’t comfortable?”
“Well I do care, so give her her damned sweater already!”
It was a simple request… trivial, really… surely he wouldn’t refuse? But the Hare frowned at her, eyes bright with suspicion. Slowly he rose and retrieved her satchel from the corner where it lay. He pulled out the light, fluffy sweater it held – but didn’t hand it over. Instead he ran his hands across it, checking and re-checking for anything hidden within it.
“I don’t understand,” Baxter muttered.
Good. Everything depends on that.
“You’ve asked for this three times now. Why? What’s so special about this sweater?”
“It’s warm.”
“I had my Witches look at it. It’s not magical.”
Nope. Not yet.
“Why do you want it so badly?”
“Because it gets cold at night,” she said, with exaggerated patience. “Why is that so difficult to understand?”
“It’s not that cold.” Warry, he was sure there was a trap here.
“Why do men always say that?” Maddie snapped. “Yes, it gets cold! I get cold, okay?”
Griffin took a menacing step towards the Fang. “Hey, I want my Mate comfortable. Give her the damned sweater, or turn up the heat, or find more blankets for her. Your choice.”
Maddie kept her lips pinched in a petulant pout. Fighting hard to hide the anxiety coursing through her.
Please, please, PLEASE pick the sweater!
“Whatever.” With a roll of his eyes, Baxter tossed it to her. “It doesn’t matter.”
Oh, but it does!
With this sweater, she could escape.
And save Griffin from himself.
Chapter 14.
Griffin left on his mission once the collar was removed. Then the Fangs locked Maddie in a tiny windowless room and posted a guard on her door.
None of that mattered. Because she had her sweater.
So she lay still and ‘submissive’, never making a peep. In the early hours, the compound fell into silence around her. Then she rose in the darkness and laid the sweater across her lap.
Baxter was right. There was nothing magical about the thing. Heck, it wasn’t even special, just a light wool sweater.
The only thing that mattered was that it wasn’t hers. It belonged to Ash Anderson, a psychic. That fact alone was Maddie’s path to salvation.
She took a deep breath and stilled her mind, starting the meditations that every young Hare learned. A daily ritual to calm the emotions and focus the will.
Once her focus grew clear, she sent the power of her Hare soul flooding down into the sweater, a sharp, hard flood of magic. Three times she did that, pausing briefly between each sending. When that was done she repeated the pattern, this time with longer pulses that lingered for five seconds. Then a third repetition, short once more.
Somewhere, the owner of this sweater would feel those blasts of magic. Waves of heat and compulsion would wash over her, dragging her out of the deepest sleep. Maddie waited a full thirty seconds before doing the whole spell again, twice more.
Three short. Three long. Three short.
SOS… in Morse code.
Part One, done. With any luck, Ash was now awake, the universal code for ‘Help me!’ echoing in her head. Now for Part Two.
Maddie raised the sweater and buried her face in its sweet, clean folds. Beside her, a soft glow surrounded her Hare, like the light of the full moon. Magic, her Kind’s birth-right, filled her, a fire that blazed in her heart. With whispered words and hot breath, she murmured a spell into the woolen cloth.
Beckoning. One of the oldest and most useful spells in a Witch Hare’s arsenal. Rats hated it, and called it ‘Come Hither.’ A name almost as old as the spell itself.
No wise man ever let a Witch get a hold of his possessions. Anything – a few strands of hair, a shirt, a shoe – become a weapon in her hands. Faint threads of Fate linked people to their belongings. A trained Witch could transform those threads into an iron collar and a leash – then haul their victim to their doom.
Somewhere, Ash Anderson felt that leash tugging her out into the desert. Gently, however. Not at all like a true Beckoning. Maddie poured only the faintest whisper of power into the spell. This was no rope, drawing Ash to her death. It was a nibble, a pestering, insistent urge to come here. Weak enough to give the psychic all the time she needed to call for help and backup.
Ash wasn’t a Hare – but her mother was. She’d grown up with magic and Witches. Maddie was sure that she’d recognize a Come Hither spell when she felt it.
And so she didn’t worry as hours passed in silence.
Nor was she surprised when that silence was broken by Dragons’ roars and explosions.
The rescue was as quick and brutal as Maddie had expected. Nothing could withstand Dragon-fire. Not tanks, not machine gun emplacements. Certainly not a bunch of hired guns who’d never faced one of the Great Serpents before. The Sand Pack came too but there was little for the Wolves to do. Casey Briggs and Finn Donnelly made short work of the opposition.
Except for Baxter. When the victors gathered bodies and prisoners, the devious Hare was nowhere to be found. He, at least, knew the power of a Dragon – and he wasn’t willing to face it. So while his hapless minions gave their lives for nothing, their treacherous boss slunk off into the desert.
