by C. P. Rider
"This one was with them." Chandra thumbed at Julio.
"I wasn't with them." He strode to a spot in front of the stairs. "I was watching over the bakery and I saw them break in."
"Where are these coyote shifters now?" I sat up on the stair tread to catch my breath. My panic had faded and I'd released the energy I'd drawn, but my head was pounding.
"Three of them are heading back to Colorado with the body of the fourth." Chandra picked at her fingernails. "Most of it, anyway."
Julio stared at her in terrified fascination. "You have violent tendencies. I think you might need therapy."
"Violence is my therapy."
"Neels." Julio backed away from Chandra. "I didn't tell you I was in town because I was trying to figure out how to approach you, but when I saw these shifters break in tonight, I had to act."
"You've never been a fighter." My voice sounded dull, disinterested, but I was fully focused. "You've always been a runner."
My uncle's words from a few months ago returned to me. "Julio wasn't cruel like his brother, but he was blind. Stupid. Lo siento, Nelia, I know you loved him, but that boy was naive."
"Maybe that was true once," he said. "Not anymore."
I stood. Teetered. Gave Lucas a back-off look when he tried to steady me because I wasn't happy with him either. Slowly, I climbed down the remaining stairs. Walking was an uncoordinated experience. My head ached. I felt oddly like laughing and crying at the same time. The nauseated feeling hadn't subsided, and I carried it at the rear of my throat in an anticipatory sort of way.
With all that inside me, I came to a halt before Julio.
"If you had killed your brother when he threatened me the first time, my tío would still be alive." I sucked in a breath that didn't come easily. It made a gasping, squeaking sound as it entered my lungs. "Just as I play a part in his death, so do you." My stomach burned now. My lungs squeezed shut.
"Neels, please let me explain."
"There's nothing to explain." I teetered again. Julio cupped my shoulders and stared into my eyes. Sweetly, the way he used to. My heart, which I'd thought was beyond breaking for him, broke a little bit more.
"I didn't know telling Saul what you were would put you in danger. It was foolish." His entire body shook, emotion clogged his voice. "It wasn't until later that I found out why you ran. That I found out what becoming a crossbreed truly meant. When you said no to joining the pack, I took it as a rejection—I didn't understand—I'm so sorry." His eyes filled with tears.
I stared at him, unsure if I would ever be able to accept his apology.
"You're right. About everything. If I'd killed Saul when I had the chance, José would still be here. You know I cared about your uncle, and my brother—" He stopped, closed his eyes. Julio was older and harder, but there was still a trace of the softness I'd loved about the young man, and it broke me a little more. "—he wasn't right. He was—"
"A murdering pile of dog shit," Chandra said.
I looked up, finally remembering there were others in the room. Amir was gone, but Chandra lounged against the counter by the sink, and Lucas crouched at the top of the stairs leading into my apartment. His upper half was shrouded in darkness, but his lower body language was defensive. Hands fisted, feet positioned to run.
"Where have you been all this time?" I asked Julio.
"All over. Washington State for a few months after I left my brother's pack. I stayed at the cabin of a wolf-shifter alpha friend until my brother killed him and wiped out nearly his entire pack hunting me. After that, I stayed away from friends, family, anyone Saul could target. I was terrified he'd kill me." He pulled me closer. I'd forgotten his hands were on my shoulders. My whole body felt numb, inside and out.
"Terrified," I muttered.
"Yes. That's why I didn't look for you after I left. I was afraid I'd lead him straight to your doorstep."
I took a step back, watched his arms drop to his sides. "He found me anyway."
"I know."
My eyelids drooped and my head hurt. "I don't feel well."
Julio took my elbow in his hand. "Can I help? Do you need to lie down? Here. Let me carry you upstairs."
"No, thank you."
He gripped my elbow tighter, his fingers digging into my skin. "Neels, I'm worried about you."
I twisted out of his grip. "Please stop calling me that. I go by Neely now."
The creak on the stairs behind me told me Lucas was on the way. He wasn't using his shifter speed. He was giving me time. Time that I didn't actually need because little black spots had turned to black smears in the corners of my eyes.
"I apologize, Neely. I'm only trying to help."
"I'll be fine, Julio." A tiny lie. The world was spinning like a merry-go-round. I swallowed hard, tried to keep my dinner down.
"You don't look fine."
"Lucas?" My legs started to go out from under me. "I need you."
The next thing I knew, I was up in his arms, cradled against his chest. The black smears had morphed into a smoky veil and had completely obscured my vision.
"Chandra, get the truck started," he said.
"You're taking her somewhere?" Julio's voice followed us out the front door. "Where? She needs a doctor."
Lucas stopped. Cradled my head against the heated flesh of his chest as he faced Julio. "I know what she needs. Thanks for your help—I've got it from here."
Julio's jaw muscle twitched. "It's like that, is it, Blacke?"
"Yes, Roso." Lucas's voice was one hundred percent alpha leader. Brimming with power. "It's like that."
"Want to tell me why we're going to the witches' tower?" Chandra asked.
I was in and out of wakefulness, but I heard everything she and Lucas said. We were in Lucas's black truck, the nice Silverado. This was the truck he kept clean enough for company, unlike his battered old Toyota.
"I thought about calling Maria Cortez, but I think Neely might need something stronger." Lucas stroked the wrist where I had worn my birthday bracelet. I'd only worn it for a couple of hours, spending most of that time asleep, yet I missed it. I was starting to wish I'd stormed out of Lucas's house with my birthday bracelet instead of the cake.
Chandra spoke softly, "It's just us here, Lucas. Why don't you heal her?"
He cradled me closer to him. "I've been trying to. It's not working."
"What? Your healing ability isn't working? Has that ever happened before?" she asked.
"Not like this. And it's not me. I know, because this morning I was trimming Lestat's claws and I cut one too close to the quick and it bled. I healed him instantly. It's not my ability."
"Wait a sec, because… You know, there's a lot to unpack here. I need a moment." Chandra cleared her throat. "You were giving your cat a manicure?"
Laughter bubbled up in me. "Pedicure," I murmured, and Chandra snickered.
"Seriously, you two?" Lucas grumbled. "He was scratching up the sofa—look, can we focus on what's important here?"
"What's important is the picture in my head of you trimming that cat's nails. Your badass image is really taking a hit, Alpha."
Lucas's brow furrowed. "Bullshit. It's badass to take good care of your pets, Chandra."
"Yes, I know that, but doing his nails—"
"Damn it, shut up about Lestat. Did you not hear the other part? I can't heal Neely."
"Maybe you can't heal anyone in human form right now? Only animals?" I heard jingling as she fished around in her pocket. "Here. Hold this. I've got a throwing knife around here somewhere."
"You keep those in your pocket?" Lucas sounded incredulous. "Don't they tear your clothes?"
"Not the way I wear them."
I squinted up at Chandra from my position in Lucas's arms as he reached over and took the truck's steering wheel. She withdrew a palm-sized knife from her back pants pocket, rested her arm across the steering wheel to steer, and used her other hand to swipe the edge of the blade down her right forearm. Wordlessly, she ext
ended the arm to Lucas. Her skin parted and blood bubbled along the slit. She didn't flinch, as in, not even a normal involuntary pain response.
Holy moly. When I grew up, I wanted to be Chandra. Even if she was a couple of years younger than me.
Obligingly, Lucas grasped the wound. He held it for a long moment, maybe ten seconds, then let go. Chandra held up her arm. It was stained with blood, but the injury was as gone as if it had never been.
Lucas held up his arm, which was just healing up. That's how it worked. In order to heal someone, he had to take the wound on himself and heal it on his body. I hated that part of his ability.
Chandra whistled. "Whoa. It really is just Neely then. Interesting."
"More like frustrating," he muttered, wiping blood on his jeans.
The sound of the road switched from asphalt to rough gravel. We had arrived at the tower. Chandra shifted into park, switched off the engine, and she and Lucas pushed their doors open.
"I can't read him," I murmured.
They fell back against the seat. Chandra's shocked face appeared next to Lucas's in my blurred vision. "What? Do you mean telepathy or spiking?"
"Telepathy. I haven't tried to spike him. D'you know why I can't do it?" Speaking was sapping my energy. I was fading, the darkness closing over my head like dark water.
"No," Lucas said abruptly.
The last thing I saw before sliding under was Chandra and Lucas exchanging a look that made me think he was lying to me. Again.
Chapter Eight
"Well, well, well," Dolores said, as Lucas carried me through the creaky front door of the tower. I had been in and out of consciousness since getting out of the car. "Back again, are you?"
"Don't give me any trouble, witch. Neely needs you."
The world faded to gray, and disconnected thoughts swirled through my brain as I tried to tune in to the conversation between Lucas and Dolores.
"…ex-fiancé was the interloper then?" Dolores asked.
"Focus, witch," Lucas growled.
"Cheese and crackers, that's quite a goose egg. How is she…"
"…don't know why my healing ability isn't working. I'm not lying to you, damn it…"
Gentle hands placed a necklace over my head. It was cold against my neck and chest, where the chain and charm hit. I instantly felt better.
"Set her down here," Dottie said.
"No," Lucas barked. A second later, in a less hostile tone. "No, thank you, Dottie. I'd like to hold her."
Aww. He wanted to hold me. If I hadn't been half out of my mind with confusion, I would have kissed him. Then I would probably have walloped him. How the man managed to make me want to crawl into his arms one minute and knee him in the man parts the next escaped me.
Was that love?
If so, it was weird.
"Don't move her too much while we work on her, tiger." Dolores set her firm, cool hands on the right side of my scalp, near the wound. "Wowza, the magic in that tranquilizer they gave her was strong. Dot and I felt it as soon as you brought her in."
"It's a time-release spell. It'll disperse in her bloodstream in small packets of magic for hours. She'll be in and out of consciousness." Dottie placed her warm, soft hands on the other side of my head. "You're going to sleep well tonight, Neely."
The witches began to chant. Their voices were soft and fast, blending into a sort of vibrating hum that tickled my skin. The back of my head heated and I wriggled against the odd sensation that wasn't pain, but also wasn't pleasant.
"Be still, sugar cookie. They're helping you." Lucas began to hum along with the witches. It was the same purring sort of hum he'd done to calm me after my uncle died. The same one he'd done to calm Lestat after the cat's first owner was killed. It was a song, soft and healing, and he rarely let anyone else hear it, but here he was, soothing me in front of Chandra and the witches.
A jolt, not unlike the sting from a low voltage electrical shock, buzzed through my body and the back of my head turned ice cold. My brain snapped to attention, and I opened my eyes.
Dolores's pale white face loomed over me. "Better?"
One side of my mouth curled into a grin. "Better. Thank you."
"Welcome, kiddo." She cocked her head to one side and squinted down at me. "I'm a little overtaxed, and we're down to our last crate of wine until tomorrow. Do you have any more of that birthday cake?"
After promising to bring them some fresh pan dulce later in the week, I walked out of the tower on my own two feet, leaning heavily on Lucas, who kept touching me—not in a sexual way, but simply as if to reassure himself that I was all right.
Chandra drove us all back to the bakery. She parked on the street and we went inside, Lucas searching the place while Chandra and I sat at a table in the café and rolled our eyes at his chauvinistic behavior.
"He does remember that you're an ex-assassin, right?" I played with the healing charm around my neck. It was supposed to help with the nausea from the tranquilizer. So far, so good.
"You'd think that would be a detail he would recall, but apparently not. I'm letting him slide because I know the type of man he is when he's in his right mind."
"You don't think he's in his right mind now?"
"No. He hasn't been straight in his head since you two fought. And tonight, when King called and said there was a guy sniffing around the bakery, he really flipped his shit." She picked at the black polish on her nails. "So, this once he gets a pass. Besides—" She threw herself back in her chair. "—it's you he's subjugating, not me. He has me here watching his woman. To him, that's important, so he wouldn't leave you with just anyone."
His woman? "Uh, I can spike power into people's brains and kill them."
"I know. But you hesitate. I don't."
"Hey, I've seen you hesitate. You didn't immediately kill that East Nevada hyena shifter who came here to kidnap me last week. You gave him at least ten seconds before you grabbed him by the throat and carried him off into the mountains, never to be seen or heard from again."
"Had to make sure there weren't any humans in the vicinity. What you witnessed was not me hesitating, it was me calculating."
"Oh." I leaned back in my chair, cautiously rolling my head to loosen the muscles in my neck. The movement made my stomach churn. Even with the witch charm around my neck, I was a little unsteady. "Come to think of it, that actually makes more sense."
"Subjugating? Really, Chandra?" Lucas entered the café through the front door, which was odd, since I'd heard him in the kitchen less than a minute ago. That amazing shifter speed at work. "Seems a bit harsh."
She pushed her chair back and stood. "Sorry, Alpha. That was thousands of years of female oppression speaking. I'm still a little touchy about it."
"As if you'd let me get away with oppressing you." He snorted.
I jabbed my index finger in his direction. "You know, I'm not letting you get away with it either. As soon as I'm not seeing double, I'm going to give you a piece of my mind."
"I look forward to it." He gave me the sort of smile he usually only gave me in the bedroom, and I felt myself blush.
"Stop being sexy. I mean it."
He arched an eyebrow at me and did that smile again. "I can't. It's my natural state."
"You're so gross." I fought a smile.
"Yep, that's enough flirting for me. Third wheel, out." Chandra flipped her chair over and set it on top of the table across from me.
"Thanks for hanging out for a minute, Second."
"Anytime. I'm going to stop by the house to drop off the truck and pick up my Jeep. Did you want me to give Lestat a catnip facial while I'm there? A massage? Maybe a leg wax?"
Lucas's eyes narrowed into slits. "Smart ass."
She was still laughing when she zipped past the window three seconds later.
"For the record, I was not trying to oppress either of you. It's just that you were hurt, and I didn't think you'd be up to—but I should have asked, not taken control. It's … see… this th
ing between us is kind of … strange—no, not strange, different."
"I get it. It's different for me, too." I wrapped my arms around myself. "Lucas, why can't you heal me? And why can't I read you?"
"I'm not sure. When I know, I'll tell you."
"You promise?"
"Yes. When I know for sure, I'll tell you."
"Don't think I didn't notice that 'for sure' loophole you just gave yourself." I stood and pushed in my chair. There was no way I was up to flipping it on the table like Chandra had. "Anyway, thanks for checking the place for me. To be honest, I was nervous about coming back here. I'm still not sure how they got in. The back door was locked."
"Through the attic. The bastards pried off the board and dropped through the vent where I used to come in. How did you not hear that?"
"I was across the street eating noodle soup and watching King trounce Earp in chess. They must have seen me walk out and thought it was a good opportunity to attack. I suppose I should be grateful to Julio. Chandra said it was his walking around outside the bakery that alerted King, who called you."
The scowl on Lucas's face told me exactly how much gratitude he felt toward Julio. "Yeah, about Roso—Neely, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I knew he was around."
"I'm very angry about that. I was blindsided tonight. Figuratively and literally." I touched the healing wound on the back of my head. "If you had been honest with me, I would have been better prepared. You didn't trust that I could handle Julio being here."
"I wanted to protect you."
"Protect me from Julio? I used to be engaged to him, for heaven's sake. He isn't his brother."
"Well, I don't like it." Lucas paced to the counter, putting some distance between us. "You don't think him showing up now, after you took care of his batshit brother for him, isn't a coincidence? The guy is a coward. Wouldn't even face down his own brother to protect the woman he was going to marry."
I held up both hands. "Stop. You weren't there. You don't know how terrifying Saul Roso could be in his own territory."
"I know how terrifying it was to be a tiger in Xavier Malcolm's wolf territory. When Malcolm wanted to change Suyin, you think I didn't challenge him? But when she told me it was what she wanted, I backed off. And after she lost her sanity, and I was forced to kill her, I left the pack without asking Malcolm's permission. Because it was the right thing to do." He shrugged. "Granted, I eventually had to murder him, but—"
