“You’re free to go.” Max flipped through papers on his desk without bothering to look up. “Loni, go ahead and return her belongings.”
The female deputy snickered. “What belongings? She came in her one strap of clothing shy of a birthday suit.”
Boy, would I love to give something to “suit” that bitch. Like a black eye. Since they were letting me go, I figured it was best to play nice. But that didn’t stop me from eyeballing the heifer. Five minutes later, I didn’t bother with goodbyes. I walked my behind out of the sheriff’s station and across the parking lot. I stopped before the road and stuck my thumb out. These losers knew me well enough to give me a lift, although I didn’t trust them to not finger the goods. I just prayed it was by someone who’d give me a ride back to my place and not theirs. The only tricks I’d turned were the ones on stage in front of a crowd. I wasn’t about to start something new on the side.
“Where are you going?” The cute guy had followed me out of the station and stared. “You’re free to go and you want to hitchhike back to town? Are you nuts?”
I turned, gravel cracking under my heeled feet. “Say again?”
He pointed at a silver car parked on the side of the building. “That way. Hell, Lex, you’re lucky I remembered where to find you.”
This man must have smoked himself a big one on his way here. “I ain’t goin’ with you, man.”
“Excuse me?”
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“You heard me. I ain’t goin’ nowhere with some guy I don’t know. So while I appreciate you gettin’
me out of the jail, my thanks is all you’ll be gettin’ tonight.”
The cutie hunk tilted his head as he stalked toward me. A handsome smile triggered the dimples in his cheeks. My heart swooned again. Hell, it tripped over itself just looking at him. He rolled his eyes. “We don’t have time for this. We have to go.”
“I said I’m not going anywhere with you. Do I have to spell it out?”
“No. I get it…Keisha.”
The man launched himself at me. I kicked and barely got off a scream when his hand clamped down on my mouth. He lifted me off my feet and hurried toward his car. I couldn’t believe this shit. Here I was right out in the parking lot of the sheriff’s station getting kidnapped. Who would’ve thought? And if I expected those idiots behind the brick wall to give me a hand, I doubted they’d halt their doughnut break to give a damn.
The man threw me against the side of his car. I took that as an invitation to run. He snagged my arm. Before I had a chance to duck, he had his fist wound back, paused like he had second thoughts and plowed straight into my face. Pain seared my cheek a split second before darkness dropped around me.
I bolted awake.
Rope seized my wrists and legs, holding me in place on a bed. The harder I pulled, the more they dug into my flesh. Lifting my head, I noticed some sort of wraparound dress on me. That fucker must have fitted me in it and tied it off at the side above my right hip. How gentlemanly of him. I moved a tad, and felt a pair of silk underwear sliding against the material.
What the fuck? Underwear too?
Where this should’ve been a room, it opened up to the rest of a cabin with a log railing separating my loft area from the lower floor. Looking between my bound ankles and the spokes of the banister, I made out a television sitting on top of a stand. There was an opening on the side where the banister angled downward from the loft. Farther into the room, I noticed a seating area with a fireplace, a front door and a kitchen on the other side. Cherry wood beams spanned the ceiling with more lining the walls. A door opened. Wind gusted into the cabin, fanning the curtains and loose papers throughout the room. I lifted my head higher to see who had entered. Darkness and crickets gave me a good idea of how late—or early—it was.
“You awake?” The voice came from somewhere downstairs.
I laid my head on the pillow and stared at the ceiling, refusing to answer him. He could kiss my biracial ass.
Marcia Colette
Footfalls thudded up the stairs. The man’s head bobbed into view. His dimpled grin didn’t melt me this time. Nothing about his smile was enough to wipe the anger out of me.
“You’re pissed.” He placed a grocery sack on the nightstand. “We’re going to be here a while, so I bought some soap, deodorant and things like that. I hope you’re not picky.”
“You sick fuck. You can’t keep me here.”
“Now that’s a change in language.” He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “I don’t know what it took for you to come back to your senses the first time, but I plan to stick it out until they make another appearance.”
“I am back to my senses, you jackass. You’re the one who’s out of them.”
The mystery guy slid his fingers around my wrist, checking my rope burns. His finger continued to slide across my skin. What should’ve taken seconds felt more like minutes with his baby-soft touch. Who would’ve thought a full-grown man had the skin of a newborn? It made no sense. Hovering over me, he leaned across and did the same to the other hand. I almost lifted my hand to help him, but I changed my mind and made it look like I didn’t want him touching me. It certainly wasn’t hard to pull off.
His eyes panned from the ropes to my face. A smile bowed his lips. “I care about you. A lot. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here now.”
Perhaps, it was time to use a little female-coochie magic. A smirk slipped onto my face. I began squirming in a slow, sultry way like the girls had taught me how to do on the pole. A small moan left my mouth. My neck lifted, exposing my flesh to him, offering it up as an appetizer. The guy licked his lips. His eye traveled from my throat to the coned tips of my nipples poking through the dress.
I bet this guy was as hard as a rock. Just like all of the other suckers, he was mine. “What’s your name, Sugar Daddy?”
He swallowed, then took a deep breath before he opened his mouth. “You know my name. It’s Matt.”
“Mmmmmm. Mine’s Keisha. Would you like a piece of candy, little boy?” I pushed my hip up as far as possible with my legs and hands bound. Guys usually nodded their stupid heads like greedy-ass puppies. Then they’d drop an easy ten or twenty between my G-string. This fool was no different. Matt’s hand traveled up my side before sliding down to my hip. A finger slid just over the waistband of my red silk underwear. I had to admit, the guy had taste. He lowered his body to mine, hovering over me. His hardness pressed into the side of my thigh.
His cheek brushed close enough to mine that I thought about biting off his ear to get his attention. Instead, I offered up my tongue along his earlobe. Good Lord was this bastard soft. It wasn’t just his hands, but every inch of his body. On the flipside of that, I sensed wilderness about him. The way his hands traveled along my front, feeling me up, he had awakened something feral inside me, desperate to break out. 118
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He gripped my clothes as if to tear them apart, but uncurled his fingers and backed off. Why he didn’t go for it, I didn’t know. This man was pure animal. I just needed to drag it out of his sorry ass.
“It’s all yours, baby.” I continued my seductive squirm underneath him. “You know you want a taste. It’s like slicking your tongue around a piece of taffy. Softening it up until you can jab it with a quick lick. The candy shop is open and waiting for its first customer of the evening.”
He stopped. The drunken lust that had filled his eyes drained out. He lifted his head to me and narrowed his gaze. Instead of finishing where he left off, he crawled backward off the bed.
“What the hell?” I smiled. “You lose your nerve or something?”
“No.” Matt straightened the front of his packed jeans before turning his back on me and starting down the stairs.
“Hey, man!” Panic set in. Dammit, I’d been close to getting him to loosen up these ropes. “Where ya goin’?”
The back of his head stopped bobbing halfway down. He kept his back to me. “As tempting as it is, I don’t want you. I want my Alexa back.”
“Alexa?” I laughed. “Who the hell is that? I bet that tramp-bitch can’t measure up to this.”
“She doesn’t have to, to get my attention.”
He lifted his head over his shoulder. The wilds that flooded his demeanor had turned to something dangerous like a predatory lion. There wasn’t anything sexual about it. This had more to do with rage. The maniac sent a shiver through me.
“I want the Alexa I know,” he seethed. “I’d rather have her turn me down than some skeezer who uses sex to get the upper hand. Sorry to disappoint you.”
Why that no good, son of— “Fuck you, limp dick. You stupid, whiny boy scout—get the hell out of here. I don’t fucking need you.”
I yanked and pulled on the ropes. It pissed me off that I couldn’t break free to beat the shit out of him. Who did he think he was to call me a tramp-whore? Though they weren’t his words, he meant it in those terms.
“Don’t bother.” He was out of sight at this point. “I’ve wrapped those ropes around rails and the legs several times. That means it’ll take more strength than you have to break out of them. So you might as well save yourself the rope burns.”
I screamed and ranted, throwing my head back in the pillows and pulling with all my might. Those fucking ropes wouldn’t budge worth shit. Hell, I’d dislocate my arms if I knew it would free me. Then once I got free, I’d beat down the mother-worthless-fucker just like I had some of the drunks in the bar. I was the best damn stripper in the county. Everyone knew it, even that fucking cunt Tiffany. The door opened and slammed closed. A few minutes later, a howl broke out in the woods. A slit in the curtain provided just enough room for light from part of the moon to spill across my bed.
Marcia Colette
I didn’t like being tied to a bed when the only sound of life was the wind rustling the trees outside. That howl left me thinking that something evil waited just beyond those walls and I had no way of defending myself if someone or something broke in here. Damn. 120
Chapter Twenty-Five
Matt never came back. He pretty much disappeared most of the night and left me to pinch off my bladder. Fucking jerk.
Just before dawn, the front door of the cabin cracked open. My eyelids parted in time to see the top of his head come through the entryway. When the door closed, I relaxed on the pillow. If he wanted to talk, then he had best buy himself a parrot to answer back.
Constant tossing in my sleep and an ache declaring war across my forehead had left me worn out. Something was wrong. My fiery anger had disappeared. I stopped caring and all I seemed to want to do was sleep. Sweat glued my hair to my head and more drenched my back and armpits. My arms and legs ached from the ropes with the simplest toss or turn. Every part of my body hurt. Even my teeth. Footfalls thumped up the steps. Matt had his arms raised above his head, letting a T-shirt slip over the span of muscles throughout his chest and cobblestone stomach. I turned my attention back to the ceiling before he caught me peeking. He didn’t need to know I cared because I didn’t. Matt stopped on the side of the bed. He blinked. His nose wrinkled with a whiff. “Shit.”
“Did not! I might be pissed at you, but not enough let you change my underwear.” Damn. So much for not talking.
“That’s not what I meant.” He lowered himself to the mattress and pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “You’re feverish. You probably caught a bug or something.”
“Well, if it’s not too much trouble, can I bug you to let me go to the bathroom? Five more minutes and your worst nightmare will come true.”
He reached for my ankles and began untying them first. Once he finished freeing me, I planned to kick him in the face. No such luck. I had lost all the feeling in my legs and couldn’t move them two inches without help. Hell, he should’ve just strung me up on the rack and stretched me from limb to limb. Once the tension loosened on my wrists, I rubbed the raw, stinging skin. When I tried to sit up, what little strength I had bled out of my body and my headache intensified. It wasn’t just lying in one position that hurt. This was something else. Maybe what he’d said about me catching something wasn’t too off the mark.
Matt stood there with his hands on his hips and brow arched. “You’re not moving.”
“Wait a minute, okay? I fucking hurt—no thanks to you.”
Marcia Colette
He scooped me off the bed despite my squealed protests and started down the stairs. “Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way. Can you at least sit on the toilet or do I have to help you with that too?”
I scowled. “Can I piss on your lap?”
He chuckled. “There’s only one chick I’d let do that and even then I’d probably curse her out. Sorry, babe, but you’re not her.”
“You’re one of Robert’s clients, aren’t you?”
His eyes narrowed. “What if I am?”
I shook my head. “It figures. If you think you’re gonna get a fortune read or something like that, you’ve got the wrong psychic whore.”
“And which whore would you be?”
“The bouncer, jackass.”
He kicked the bathroom door open. “Can you handle this on your own or do you need help?”
A wicked thought came to mind. Grinning, I ignored the ache in my face. “Would it make you happy if I said yes?”
“No.”
Jerk.
It took some maneuvering, but I managed to get where I needed to be. Sitting up made it easier to breathe, but exhaustion riddled my body.
I dragged myself toward the window and gave the pane a thrust. Either that guy had nailed it shut or the dirt caked on the glass was a sign it hadn’t been opened since the cabin was built. I gave it another bump with the base of my wrist, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Is that what Robert does? Reads fortunes?”
“No.” I didn’t care that I sensed his presence standing in the doorway watching me. Weird, yes, but it was just one of those things I did. My senses seemed to be very acute when it came to my personal space.
“Robert doesn’t read fortunes, fool. The strippers do. Some of them, anyway. The others are sensitives. All of it is done at private parties though, so you’re shit out of luck if it’s insider information you’re looking for. Ask a bitch who cares because I don’t.”
“Funny you should say that.” Matt reached around and grabbed my hands. Searing pain cut through my raw wrists. I jerked my elbow into his ribs and yanked away. “You asshole! Thanks to you I was lucky that I could wipe mine.”
Smoothing his hand along his ribs, he chuckled. “I’ll fix them up as soon as I get you back to bed.”
“I’m fine.”
“Not with that fever, you aren’t.”
“Oh yeah?”
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“Yeah.” He grinned right before tossing me over his shoulder and carrying me out of the bathroom. Boy, did I hate this motherfucker.
Although, there was one interesting piece that made me stop and think. The angle of his butt as it moved underneath his sweats. Lord help me, it was tempting to touch. It’s not every day a woman sees something interesting enough to snatch her attention away from wallowing in anger. It was nice, tight and perfectly rounded. I loved the way it moved with each step.
By the time I thought of a way to hurt him, he’d lowered me onto the bed. I wanted to scramble across the mattress to the other side. In theory. In reality, it didn’t happen. Damn whatever this bug was. I got to the other side with my back to him, but I had a feeling it had a lot to do with Matt gawking at my ass from behind. His fingers wrapped around my ankles and hauled me to the other side of the bed. Using a piece of rope, he tied my wrists together and finished off with my ankles. I wanted to fight. I wanted to rake his eyes out for trussing me like a roasted chicken, but I just couldn’t do it. This flu thing had come on hard and fast.
“Now.” Matt shoved a wavy tress behind my ear. “I’ll fix us some breakfast. When I’m finished, I’ll see what I can do about those rope burns. Sound good?”
Whatever. I turned my head away, refusing to look at him. Unfortunately, my growling stomach gave me away.
Matt smiled and left the loft.
He turned out to be very slow with the feeding. It felt like days since my last meal and he pussyfooted around with the food. The more he fingered through the newspaper, the slower his forkfuls of omelet came. Ire aside, I had to give him props for being one hell of a cook. There was a reason why cereal was my number-one breakfast. Well…that and French toast. I knew how to do French toast because Flora—
I jerked my head away from the fork.
No, I didn’t. Where the hell had that thought come from and who was Flora? I was a lousy cook. My roommate Joy had told me so. It must have been a stray thought. Yeah. That was it. I watched as Matt flipped through the newspaper and came to a stop. So did my omelet feeding. I growled to get his attention. Without lifting his head from the article, he held out a forkful of omelet again. With my hands and ankles tied, I had to worm my way toward the prongs to get to the food. If he had trusted me with utensils, this wouldn’t be an issue. Then again, we might have a bigger one if he gave me the knife.
I finally got my lips in place to swallow the fluffy egg with bits of a salty ham, soft green peppers and onions, and a pinch of tangy salsa. Everything slid down my throat, the last of the deliciousness fading from my taste buds. Damn was that good.
“You mind handing over the orange juice?”
“Mm hm.” He didn’t move. His attention remained glued on an article.
Marcia Colette
“Excuse me. Hungry and Tied over here would like something to drink before she chokes.”
“Uh-huh.”
Dammit. Angling my feet closer, I pinched his thigh with my toes. He yelped.
“Serves you right. I’m hungry and you’re slacking on the meals. Either feed me or untie me to do it myself. But don’t leave me hanging when it comes to food.”
Matt blinked. I thought he would rifle something back, but he didn’t. “Do you know a guy by the name of Avery Wells?”
“No,” I lied. The first name sounded familiar, but the last name was a blank.
“Well, perhaps you should.” He folded the paper in half with the story he had read on top. He tossed it onto my thighs. “Wells was shot outside the sheriff’s department during a drive-by shooting. From what I understand that’s not very common in a town of less than two thousand people.”
My gut wanted to scream even though it never reached my lips. Why this guy meant something to me, I couldn’t explain it. My instincts said I should be jumping out of this bed and running for the door to be at his side. Not sitting and pretending not to care.
“You know him, don’t you?” Matt tipped his head, eyes studying me. I shook my head and put deny-deny on my face.
“Okay, then.” He cut into another sliver of omelet and held it to me. “More?”
Again, I shook my head. My appetite went from starvation to nothingness. After hearing that news, I didn’t want to eat anymore. I found it easier to lie on my side, close my eyes and imagine none of this was happening.
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Chapter Twenty-Six
Several voices held scattered conversations throughout my mind, making it hard to settle on just one. The group of people in my dreams had had enough of discussions to last a lifetime. One particular chat started overpowering the rest. We were in the woods just south of Boston.
“Perfect shot, Lex. Center mass.” Dane slung the rifle over his shoulder before crouching to inspect the furry corpse.
I did the same with my metal crossbow and smirked. “You wouldn’t have it any other way or you wouldn’t have put me in the treetops.”
Dane took out a switchblade and sliced a tuff of dark brown fur off the wolf. “At least this one won’t be terrorizing any more of the campers. You should’ve told us about this before taking matters into your own hands. The Boston Pack will skin you alive if they catch you in the area.”
My best guess said a small group of wolves had broken ranks and started hunting humans. After four teens had disappearances in five weeks, it had started gaining some attention. Even as a half werewolf, I knew how dangerous it would get if humans discovered us. Someone had to put a bullet in this bastard. Dane and his Hunting Club were busy chasing down bounties on other supernaturals when I had called them to handle this one.
I wasn’t an official member of the club because I didn’t normally go after preternatural troublemakers at the drop of a couple thousand dollars. I usually kept to my own and used my crossbow for self-defense. Dane must have been okay with that because he never asked me to join their group either. I went with them this once because I had read the headlines about the brutality of the slayings, which were too close to my territory. Parry didn’t seem to give a damn or he would’ve dispatched his own wolves to handle this. He hadn’t.
Many thought a wild animal had gone after them, so they started putting up notices to campers and even closed the state park. That didn’t stop the last two deaths at another park about sixty miles away. Whether or not this wolf and his missing friends belonged to the Boston Pack, I couldn’t say. Werewolves didn’t carry pack ID.
The bushes rustled. Riley, a club member, emerged through the copse in human form with a blond wolf loping beside him.
Seeing Riley in the nude was nothing new, though I had to give him props for having a nicely toned body. Most women drooled at the sight of him. Not me though. I was more intrigued by the wavy black Marcia Colette
hair he liked to wear hanging halfway down his back. Whenever he changed, all of it would retract back in his hide while his soft pelt thickened in his pores. It was no wonder it always took him longer to change than anyone else.
There wasn’t a day that went by where he didn’t have a sexual innuendo for me. Why I put up with that man and his antics, I couldn’t say. Even worse, he had a libido equal that of a dozen Chippendales in one room.
Dane stood and dropped the rogue’s fur inside a plastic Ziploc bag. “Aren’t you supposed to be in wolf form?”
Riley shrugged too late and not very convincingly for the story he was about to relay. “We heard voices. I changed first, and I didn’t want to take the chance of some damn soldier of misfortune stumbling across us.”
“Where are Chris and Jocelyn?”
Before anyone answered, the mated pair emerged from the shadows on the trail where the hunters had chased two more wolves. In human form, Chris was African American with a beautiful glow on his medium complexion. He had the soft eyes of a model and closely shaved hair. Next to him, strode a female wolf with dark brown fur and hazel eyes. In human form, Jocelyn was a shade darker than Chris. If anything, she reminded me of a goddess who’d descended down from Mount Olympus. She kept her hair short and stylish with golden highlights. Knowing how much they loved each other pricked me with a hint of jealousy, but in a good way. They were the most perfectly suited couple I had ever seen in my life. Chris’s hand brushed over his wife’s head and along her back as she sauntered closer to inspect the dead corpse.
“The other two are dead.” Chris watched the lovely lines of his wife before turning his attention to Dane. “No time to change though. Joss and I had to lose a couple of hunters on our tracks. We hid the corpses in a cave not too far from here.”
Riley folded his arms over his chest. “I know this is stating the obvious, be we need to get out of here. These woods are crawling with militia wannabes. Not to mention, if the Boston Pack finds us here, our asses are toast. I’d rather they think their wolves ran away than us having picked them off.”
I thumbed at Riley. “Mr. Adonis here is right. We don’t have the wolf power to fight the local pack with a maniac at the helm. If they—”
“Point taken.” Dane hoisted the dead wolf up and slung it across his shoulder. “We’ll take this one and come back for the other two later.”
Riley kicked a mound of dried leaves. “Shit. What about the money we could fetch off the black market for these guys?”
“I’m not taking a chance that one of our wolves gets shot by some dumbass human who wants to play GI Joe. Now either move your ass or I’ll move it for you.”
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No one said a word as Dane steeled us with a glare, daring someone to challenge him. We either lowered our gazes or looked away. Meeting his glare would mean a challenge and Dane didn’t like anyone who challenged his authority when his main purpose was to keep us alive. He was our leader and that was the end of it. Anyone who thought otherwise would end up getting shot in the thigh and carried off. One would think stupid Riley should’ve learned his lesson from the last time. We respected Dane’s authority. Even the few human hunters we worked with understood that without question.
A clap of thunder bolted me awake. Sweat covered my back and front. My hair was glued to my face. That dream remained fresh and raw like an open wound oozing with puss and blood. We were in the woods hunting the Boston Pack. When, I couldn’t say. Dear God, for all I knew Matt could’ve been the target. But why? What would make us—
Lightning streaked across the sky. Thunder rumbled a second later. I didn’t know if I was ever afraid of storms, but the bad omen that came with this one left me shaken.
“Matt. Where are you?”
A grumble answered me.
“Matt!” I began wriggling my way toward the edge of the bed. It would hurt if I hit the floor, but I had to know if he was okay.
I swung my legs over the edge. The rest of me followed through with less grace. My hip landed first, followed by my chin and teeth clacking together. Stars twinkled in my vision before I opened my eyes. Feet thudded across the room and flew up the stairs. I saw Matt’s head, then him diving for the floor.
“Shit.” He helped me to sit up. “You okay?”
“No.” I had to mumble because my achy jaw wasn’t ready for a full-blown conversation. Sliding his arm around my back and under my knees, he lifted me onto the bed. “At this rate, I’m going to need railings to keep you put. What would you do if you fell down the stairs?”
“Lie there and hope I didn’t break my neck in the process.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. You have to be—” He stopped and stared at me. His eyes squinted.
“Who’s in there?”
I stared back. “What kind of question is that? And why am I all tied up?” Realization hit me. This man had left me bound in a bed in a log cabin out in the middle of nowhere. “You perverted pig. What the fuck do you think you’re doing? If this is how you treat all of your girlfriends, then you’re lucky you still have mobility from the waist down.”
A half smile bowed his lips. “You haven’t told me who you are yet.”
“How about I take my fist upside your head and knock some sense into you?”
“I’m still waiting.”
Marcia Colette
“For a wallop?” I let a growl simmer while closing my eyes to let my temper simmer. “Just tell me one thing. Did you rape me? If so you’re better off not untying me.”
Matt lowered his eyes to my front. His finger traced along the oversize tee until he came just below my breast. He stopped. Just when I thought he wouldn’t go any further, he flicked my nipple.
“Why you son of a bitch!” I bent my knees and began kicking him the best I could despite my tied ankles. My tied fists went straight for his face. If this jerk planned to assault me, then I’d put up such a fight that he’d have to burn my body to get rid of the DNA evidence. Matt grabbed my wrists and tackled me onto the mattress. His body covered mine. I continued to kick and scream while he remained calm. There wasn’t an ounce of lust in his eyes, but rather nonchalance. The more I fought, the more I wore myself out. Matt was strong enough to hold me down without breaking a sweat.
“I had to know.” He held my glare. “I’ve been dealing with your alter ego for the past few days.”
I stopped. “Days?”
Matt hauled himself off me. Taking hold of my wrists, he began loosening up the rope. “Sorry about this. But only the real Alexa would want to crack my skull for touching her like that. Your alter ego was another story.”
The last few days. What the hell had happened to me? There were bits and pieces, but something about a fever clouded most of it. “How…? What…?”
He loosened the last tie. When I opened my mouth to speak, he raised his hand. “I’ll tell you everything. But first, let’s get you a fresh change of clothes. You haven’t had a bath for a while. As cute as you are, my sense of smell can only take so much.”
Good Lord. I had really stunk up the place. My clothes smelled like days-old sweat that had undergone periods of “refreshed perspiration” during my mental absence. One more day of this tee and it would take a paring knife to get me out of it. A thick coat of ick covered my teeth. It wouldn’t surprise me if I had a couple of cavities hidden under there. There was no telling what my hair looked like.
“By the way…” Matt helped me up. “You were tossing and turning in your sleep. Something wrong?”
His dark eyes swallowed me under their spell, but it wasn’t enough for me to part my lips. I wanted to tell him about the dream, but I couldn’t. Suppose my “bounty hunting” group possibly wanted him dead? Until I figured out if they were after those particular werewolves or all of Parry’s people, I didn’t want to bring trouble down on Dane and the others. They did a good thing by getting rid of those monsters, so why add extra unnecessary trouble into the mix? Besides, for all I knew it was my job to hunt his people whenever they stepped out of line…which would make him my enemy. 128
Chapter Twenty-Seven
While standing outside the bathroom door, Matt told me everything that had happened at the cabin. Just like those two guys who had approached me at the saloon, he had followed me there too. As it turned out, Avery Wells was my father and Wesley Dane was his close friend. Both names sounded familiar, though my heart held very little feeling for them. It was nice to know I had a father, but it sucked that I lacked any memory of a father-daughter relationship.
While soaking my body in the heated garden tub, I dug through my memories. Flora and Charles Hill came to mind, along with a bed and breakfast whose name I had forgotten. Matt filled me in on that too. Some of it I had remembered on my own, but he had to help me with the rest. That was the problem with my recollection. It turned into a jumbled mess more mixed-up than before. At least he had an email I had sent him to help me figure some of my life out.
“How long has it been?” I tucked the corner of my plush towel to my front. Matt opened his mouth when I stepped out of the bathroom. No words came out. For a werewolf, he wasn’t used to seeing a woman wearing a towel. Perhaps if I dropped it, my full monty might untangle his tongue.
“Uh…” He blinked and smiled. Before saying another word, he turned his back to me and began stoking the fire. “Too long. Your court date has come and gone and a warrant was issued for your arrest.”
“What? ”
“I’m guessing that’s how your father and that Dane guy found you. The police probably contacted them. Anyway, Robert was smart. He kept you hidden away for a month before putting you back on the stage again. He probably thought nobody would stick around long enough to think you were still here.”
“A month?” One whole fucking, hellish nightmare of a month?
I gulped. There was no telling what that bastard had done to me in all that time. Even more sickening was I had no recollection of it. Just the thought of his filthy hands all over me, I wanted to jump back in the tub and pour scalding water all over my skin.
“Hey…” Matt came forward and placed his hands on my shoulders. “We’re gonna figure this thing out, okay? I’ve been in touch with Monica and told her that you’ve been suffering from a nervous breakdown.” When I opened my mouth, he shook his head. “It’s imperative that we establish some sort of mental condition with you. It’s the best chance we have for staving off these charges.”
“But I’m not—”
Marcia Colette
“I know you aren’t. Monica doesn’t and neither does anyone for that matter. But it’s better this way. At most, you’ll have to sit through some boring therapy sessions, but that’s better than going to jail. The only problem is that we need to get you somewhat certifiable by a licensed psychologist. I have a feeling that’ll be easy.”
I folded my arms and did my best not to pout, although I knew I had failed. “That’s not funny.”
“I know it’s not.” He stole a quick kiss to my forehead. Apparently that was commonplace for him because it never broke his rhythm. “Look, this might also work in our favor. If we can find someone who’s a hypnotist, they might be able to dig up some of your memories. No more living in this fog of uncertainty.”
“Or it might spell doom when I start blabbering about werewolves and witches. This is dangerous stuff you’re talking and you know it.”
“Yeah, but you don’t change. That’s why I think it’s best. I’d never recommend this to a full blood. But we’ll handle all that as soon as I get you back to Boston.”
I shook my head. “Not without my father. If he is what you say, then I have to know he’s okay.”
“Already beat you to it.” Matt took my hand and guided me across the room. “You up for hanging out by the fire or would you like to go back to bed? It’s about two in the morning, you know.”
I smiled. “That has exactly what to do with my father?”
“Can I at least have a kiss first? I’m still trying to woo you, ya know. And, you have no idea how happy I am to have the real Alexa back. I swear, I could freakin’ explode right now.”
“Uh-huh. Maybe if I found some clothes, it would help you focus.”
“Now why you want to go ruin the mood with a crazy idea like that?”
I wrinkled my nose at him. It was that or give him the finger. Besides, I was in a playful mood, not a hostile one.
Making my way up the staircase, I continued the conversation over my shoulder. “You were gonna tell me about my dad.”
“Oh. Right. Well, he’s okay, if that’s what you want to know. At least that’s what I think. He checked out of the hospital against doctor’s orders. From what I understand, he took the bullet in the side. It missed any major organs, which is good. Considering he’s half werewolf too, it makes sense.”
I barely got a fresh tee shirt over my head when I stopped. “Like me? How did that happen?”
“Genetically speaking, it’s impossible. I did a background check on your mother and found out she’s human. But there’s this story about a five-year-old who was attacked by her werewolf grandfather and…well… The point is, the way the newspapers reported it, a timber wolf had broken inside your home and bitten you. The hospital said it was a strange form of rabies. Since you already had the werewolf gene, your grandfather exacerbated it. At least, that’s the theory from the werewolf side. That’s why you’re more 130
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half than a quarter. I’m guessing it was a territorial thing where he thought your father had intruded on his land. That’s why he went after you guys.”
I stopped digging in the drawers for clothes and walked to the edge of the loft so there wouldn’t be any question in my mind as I braced myself for something I probably didn’t want to hear. “You mean he attacked more than just me?”
Hesitant, Matt lowered his gaze. “I—uh—don’t know how to tell you this, but…” He listed his head.
“Your older sister Genevieve survived, but your baby brother died in the attack.”
I dropped to my knees and clutched the invisible kick to my stomach. Tears blurred my vision and spilled down my cheeks. I had no fucking memories of the kid, but it didn’t stop me from feeling like someone had ripped out my intestines. My baby brother was dead and I couldn’t remember it. Damn Robert. Damn him to hell. Although I was sure it was a memory many people would rather live without, I didn’t want to. Whoever he was, he was a piece of me gone forever. Footfalls thumped up the staircase. Matt dropped to the floor and gathered me in his brawny arms. I would’ve liked to swear up and down that I didn’t need his comfort and push him away, but I couldn’t. The words never came out. I’d be lying to myself if I said it. Sniper, huntress of rogue werewolves and strong woman that I was…even I needed a shoulder to cry on. Matt’s just happened to be there. He must have held one hell of a torch in his heart to come this far and stay this long for me. Yeah, I wanted to cry in his arms more than anyone else’s at the moment.
Matt held me tight, stroking my hair in silence. Thank God he let me have my cry. Once I worked my way through the ordeal, I pulled out of his arms and wiped my wet lashes. “Now I know why my father would come this far to look for me. How he knew…”
“I think Flora told him. You left that journal with her, remember? You said you had emailed a copy to the inn. You’re a very smart woman. I’m glad I know how to pick ’em.”
I smirked before slapping him on the arm. I needed that chuckle. “Smart ass.”
Matt helped me to my feet and led me downstairs to the fireplace. “I don’t know where your father is. It’s like he and his friend went to the hospital then vanished. Considering how much this small town hates them, it doesn’t surprise me. The newspaper implied he was shot in retaliation for the bar fight he and Dane started.”
“I have to leave them a breadcrumb once we get back to Boston. To let them know I’ve left this godforsaken hellhole.”
“You mean you don’t want to tell them face to face?”
I shook my head. “Not if they’re going to lock me up for safekeeping. After seeing the lengths they’ll go to get me back, I have this weird feeling that they’re extremely protective of me. I’d rather stay a step ahead of them if it means I stand a better chance at figuring this thing out. I love them, but…”
Marcia Colette
“Say no more—I get it. Besides, I don’t think I’m in the mood to come between you and family. There’s only—”
Whining wood just beyond the cabin walls caught our attention. Both our heads turned toward the far wall facing the front of the house. If Matt’s hearing was anything like mine, he knew that noise was out of the ordinary. To a human, it might sound like the wind playing with the storm door. To our keen senses, that was the weight of a foot creeping across wooden planks.
Before I moved toward the steps, Matt darted to the window. I followed him. My fingers clutched his thick shoulder to help balance me while I stood on tiptoes and peered over him. A half grin dotted his mouth, but only for a second.
“See anything?”
“Nope.” He turned and eased me away from the window. “You might want to put some pants on. We’re leaving. Tonight.”
Travel was the last thing on my mind. I would rather we grill our intruders for information and then leave their bodies at the bottom of a lake. Brutal, I know, but I was tired of people kidnapping me off to faraway places and brainwashing me into doing dreadful things. Nothing wrong with a little brutality to make my point. Besides. Matt had probably rented this cabin, thus making it our temporary territory. We would guard it as such.
Whoa. I’d even started thinking like him. Scary…but a little cool too. My sharp hearing had picked up a voice that mumbled something about going around back while another said he’d take the front.
I knew those guys. They were some of Trixie’s bouncers. I couldn’t say for sure if Sammy or Paul was with them. If we moved the curtains they’d know we were on to them. Still, I refused to let those bastards take me back.
I ran for the loft, taking the stairs two at a time. Matt said he had bought some clothes, so hopefully he remembered my pant size. I yanked open the drawers and started searching.
“I’m going out back,” Matt said in a loud whisper that echoed from below. I found a pair of sweats that were a size too big even with the drawstrings. I had one leg in when I hobbled to the edge of the loft and leaned over the railing. “Are you nuts? What if they have guns?”
A wicked grin pressed dimples into his cheeks. “I’ve got something better.”
Before I lodged another protest, he pulled his shirt over his head and let it fall to the floor. His zipper went next. Reaching for the waistband, he pushed his jeans down to his thighs. Oh. My. God. The man went commando, and with an ass that round and smooth, he was certainly within his right. I wouldn’t peel my eyes off him even if the cabin walls were in flames. I gulped to keep my saliva from dripping down my chin. Had someone told me I’d get my chance to have his butt cheeks in my hands, I would’ve dropped to my knees in thanks.
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The back door clicked open. While copping a visual feel, I hardly noticed he had made it across the room. I opened my mouth again to voice my disapproval, but he stepped out. Gunfire exploded outside.
My heart stammered to a stop. Dear God, if anyone hurt him, I swear I’d go through with that bottomof-the-lake plan. I grabbed the railing and leaped from the loft. I landed in a crouched position with a thump. My eyes scanned the surroundings like a cat checking the area for danger. The knob turned. Someone wanted in.
I flew to the other side of the room and pressed my back against the wall. They might expect me standing and aim high enough to blow my head off. However, they wouldn’t aim low. I crouched close to the floor.
The knob twisted and the lock clicked. The fireplace was the only thing that shed light into the cabin. My heartbeat pounded in my ears when the door opened. No creaking sounds or anything that would bring me to the edge of panic. It was as smooth as butter on glass. Carrying a gun, the stranger stepped inside. He pointed the barrel around the edge of the door, aiming just above my head. He shoved the door away, probably for a wider view. Too bad, his eyes found me before his gun did. Boy, was that a mistake.
My fist flew upward, crushing his manhood back to newborn length. The man crumpled to the floor with his hands between his thighs and scrunched into the fetal position. Poor thing. I would’ve felt sorry for him had he not wanted to hunt us down. I grabbed the gun and pitched it across the hardwood floor. Guns made me uneasy, though I couldn’t remember exactly why.
Squatting next to him, I fisted his hair and pulled his head back to see me. “What the hell do you want?”
The man’s face remained contorted in pain. “Paul called. Said he wanted me and the boys to check this place out. He had a feeling you might be here.”
“How did he know we’d be here?” When he wasn’t forthcoming with an answer, I put him in a headlock. That got his attention.
His pulled one of his hands from between his legs and grabbed my arm. “Keish! What the hell’s got into you, girl?”
“Answer me.”
He gagged. “Some of the folks here in Livermore recognized your bail-bondsman boyfriend. Thirtyeight miles away, but still a small town. Not too many stores with women’s clothing. Tiffany used her psychic mojo to find you.”
Psychic mojo. Matt said my alter ego had implied Gamboldt had a psychic whore on staff.
Marcia Colette
Pieces of speech began to replay in my head. Some woman—Elaine—had tried to read me. Then there was Paul who had mentioned a banker and using mind tricks on him. Where was all this coming from?
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to torture this guy for more answers. Matt was out there running around with a maniac gunning for him.
I fisted his hair and slammed his head into the hardwood floor. This guy had wasted enough of my time.
The door slammed open again.
This time another intruder barreled through with his gun pointed at me. I should’ve been scared, but I wasn’t. Matt remained at the forefront of my mind. That was all the motivation I needed to put an end to this. Besides, I would rather have died than go back to Trixie’s.
“Up, Keisha.” The man lifted the gun, signaling for me to do as he said. “I don’t want to have to hurt you.”
“Good. I don’t want to beat you into a wall.”
He laughed. “Shoot, girl. I don’t think for a second you’re lying either. Now, let’s go.”
With blink-you’ll-miss-it reflexes, I shoved the barrel of the gun away and thrust the heel of my hand across the bridge of the man’s nose. The gun fired, but the bullet hit the floor to my left. I’d chalk that up to fast, damn good instincts…even if they were hybrid ones.
Still holding the gun, I slugged him with a right cross. The man stumbled out the door and into the porch railing. I hit him with a roundhouse kick to the stomach. He bent in half, but the force was enough to shove him over the railing and into the bushes lining the front of the cabin. Enough wasting time. I went back into the cabin, found a pair of cheap sneakers and headed out the rear door.
Matt’s wild scent came through like fresh cologne. I smelled him all the way over the railing and into the bushes where he had disappeared.
Woods enveloped my surroundings. I leaped over large boulders and rotted stumps, following his trail. Strange that I honed in on it among the woodsy scents. I could even pick out the fresh rabbit trails and deer that had left crisscross paths along the ground. When I came to a small ravine, I slid down the incline and splashed into the frigid brook at the bottom. Matt’s scent had disappeared, but I continued in a straight line anyway. There was no reason why he’d head downstream unless another animal was after him and he wanted to lose the scent. Grabbing a thick root, I climbed up the opposite side of the hill. I stopped and whiffed the air. Still, no male wolf smell. Damn. Maybe my senses were wrong after all. Stupid as it sounded, my instincts urged me to go down on all fours. It was a good thing I was in the middle of the forest or I’d never have lived this down. After dropping to my knees, I pressed my face close 134
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to the earth and sniffed around for a scent. I must have looked like a wild woman raised by dogs, pushing my way through leaves and twigs.
A smell hit me. On the smooth surface of a small rock, I found a piece of Matt. Excited, I continued searching, picking up more and more until I found the right direction again. I hopped to my feet and darted through a thick copse.
Branches and twigs snagged my sweats and pricked my calves. Twice, I tripped on rocks and thick roots, but they didn’t stop me. I needed to find him before that maniac hunter put a bullet in his ass. I was sure he wasn’t hurt or I would’ve smelled blood on the air.
Something about this experience brought back pieces of my dreams with me running through the woods. I half-expected a pack of wolves to filter out of the shadows and run with me. They didn’t, of course, but in a way, I wished they had. At least those shadows were friendly. Heaven only knew what awaited me out here.
A black wolf leaped from a band of thick foliage. I stopped and threw my back against the nearest tree, cold bark biting into my back.
Matt—my gut said it was him—growled. His ears flattened on his canine head and his lips peeled back to reveal a set of serrated teeth. The only signs of his human half were in his mahogany eyes. However, with the searing hatred burning through them now, I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure about that.
He lunged.
I ducked to the right and threw my fists in front of me, ready to fight him off. I guess I was wrong about anything human behind those eyes once he had turned into a wolf. Matt landed somewhere behind my tree. A man screamed and stumbled backward. The wolf’s powerful jaws remained clamped around his assailant’s arm. Jerking his head from side to side, he hung on until bones cracked like a person biting into an apple. The yanking had turned into a pull as he tore the arm off and let it fall to the ground. Matt lunged at the man’s throat, silencing his horrific screams. The savagery of his kill bothered me, though I knew it shouldn’t. If my dreams were correct, I had killed a few werewolves of my own, only I didn’t have sharp teeth to do it with. However, that cute butt and those adorable dimples didn’t seem cute anymore. Part of him was human, but full acceptance meant choosing the beast inside him too. That scared me. I didn’t want to be a savage like that. Matt stumbled away from the unmoving body. In fact…he stumbled a lot. Any doubts I had left me. I ran to him and dropped to my knees. A whine came through his closed muzzle as he walked with a slight limp. Whenever he stopped moving, he lifted his left paw off the ground or barely let it touch.
“Come here, you big baby.” I snatched him by the scruff of his neck and buried his head between my breasts. That might be just the thing he needed to calm down. “Let me see.”
Marcia Colette
He groaned and pulled away. I got rough with him this time. Matt tripped into me, so I wrapped one arm around his neck and held him still. He was a powerful animal, but I held my own and examined his shoulder. Maybe this was the best way to respect the wolf side of him. Through power and strength, seeing as he seemed to understand that most.
Blood matted his fur. At first, I thought it was from the man he had killed, but even after I cleaned it with my fingers, more appeared. Jagged pieces of skin about the size of a quarter kept pooling with blood. It looked like a graze, which meant he’d be okay. If he were human. Being a werewolf, I couldn’t be sure.
“You need to change,” I said. “You up to it?”
This time, Matt pulled away and settled down on his belly. His head lowered between his front legs and he closed his eyes.
His fur rippled. Seconds later, something began slithering underneath his bubbling coat. Several cracks jolted his legs and back. His tail was the first to go. It began receding into his tailbone until it disappeared. His face broke in several different spots just as his pointed ears began to round off and shrink back to where they were level with his eyes. Clawed paws elongated into fingers, thumb pressing out on the sides. With the exception of his head, his black hair had thinned out like a man balding on a time-lapse camera.
Minutes later, a naked man lay on the ground with one leg bent and the other one sticking straight out at me. Had the circumstances been less urgent, I might have sat there and admired the view. I got to my feet and hurried to his side. The graze on his shoulder was just that. Although it looked like a nasty burn, at least he’d live. The sissy. He was probably faking just to get my attention. I combed my fingers through his sweaty hair. More sweat covered his body, glistening under the halfmoon sky. Human or werewolf, the man was gorgeous. Not only that, he had saved my life. Matt mumbled something. His head lifted and he looked at me with a lethargic gaze. I looped my hand under his arm. “We need to go. Can you make it?”
Matt nodded. He pushed off the ground and got to his feet, leaning his slick, muscled body on me. Good thing I lifted more than the average guy.
“We have to leave.” A series of huffs and a gulp overtook him. “You still up for a road trip?”
“Honey, you’re asking the wrong person. I’m so ready to get out of this town that I could start walking now.”
He chuckled. “Let’s not. I don’t want to get arrested for indecent exposure.”
“Who says this is indecent?” I slapped him on his heated rear for good measure. Boy had my comfort level jumped a notch.
He chuckled. “I knew you couldn’t resist. And I’m gonna make you pay for that the first chance I get.” That silly grin on his face said he meant every word of it. 136
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Flying would’ve been a better choice, but we couldn’t chance it as long as we remained in Arizona. We didn’t know the extremes that Robert would go through to get me back, and he had already made an appearance at the airport the last time I was on the run. Plus, it gave Matt a chance to fill me in on the whole psychic ring that Robert had under his thumb. Although Matt had received his information from my alter ego, we had nothing else to go on. Gamboldt used his mind control to get other entrepreneurs to sign over their business to him, but it didn’t explain why he needed me for my assassination skills. He had something else going on, and I had a feeling that what he told the strippers and me was only half the story.
“There was a medical technician. A witch you told me about.” Matt drove with one hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and the other lying in his lap. “You don’t know if she destroyed your records, do you?”
“What does it matter?” I stared out the window as we zoomed past a thick forest.
“It matters because whatever is on that report might help Monica with her mental-illness defense.”
“I haven’t spoken to Pippa since that time I cornered her in the subway.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I called Monica and had her subpoena the hospital for a copy of your records. Whether or not she went through with it, I don’t know. She hasn’t called back.”
An image of Luz flashed through my mind. “You don’t think someone… She’s still alive, right?”
“Lex, she’ll call when she calls. Just do me a favor and play like we’re boyfriend and girlfriend around her, okay? I don’t want her thinking I’m here to step on her toes or anything. She’s good at what she does. In fact, she’s already lined up a psychiatrist for you to see when you get back. He’s going to—”
“Can we not do this right now?” I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice, but it came out anyway.
“I don’t want to think about having to share a jail cell with anyone and certainly not in Boston. Been there, done that.”
“It won’t happen. I’ll put up your bail money again after you turn yourself in to the Boston PD.”
I shook my head. What did he want from me? A medal? My life rested in his hands and the only thing I could do was sit behind bars until someone let me go at their earliest convenience. I didn’t relish going back to the city at all.
After our long drive to Houston, we dropped off the rental and boarded the earliest flight to Boston we could get. Once there, we did as Matt said. I turned myself in to the police before someone else could. Monica showed up at the station with my medical report in hand, along with a doctor’s note recommending Marcia Colette
I have psychiatric evaluation due to amnesia…which was due to a virus. Weird. I didn’t know there was any such thing as viral amnesia. My funny lab work had probably brought the doc to that conclusion. Thank God, I ended up with a lenient judge. My jail stint lasted less than a day on the condition that I have a psychiatric evaluation in the next forty-eight hours or be in contempt. The judge even suggested a court-appointed shrink, but once again, Monica was a step ahead of him and already had my appointment lined up before the judge smacked the gavel. Damn, she was good. Unfortunately, the Assistant DA wasn’t ready to drop the charges, which meant another court date. If Robert’s people kidnapped me one more time, I’d end up in jail without any chance for bail and who knew what kind of trouble heaped on my head. We needed to put an end to Robert. The sooner the better.
“What now?” I crossed my arms against the chilly city breeze and tucked my head into my lapels.
“Tomorrow is your appointment with Dr. Manish Anri.” Monica’s heels clicked down the steps of the courthouse as she made her way to the curb. “He’s a friend of Frank and Sonya. I’m trusting you to get her there, Mr. York.”
I didn’t like the way she sniped at him like that. I touched her arm to get her attention from hailing a cab. “Monica, please don’t blame him. It’s not his fault. If there’s anyone you should be pissed at, it’s me. I should’ve—”
“It’s not that.” She shook her head. “Look, I know there’s more going on and I wish you guys would level with me. I’m your lawyer, for heaven’s sake. I’m not out to get you.”
Matt stepped closer. “What makes you think we’re hiding anything?”
Monica reached inside her briefcase, pulled out a folder and handed it to me. “Keisha Walker’s last known address was here in Boston. Prior to that, she was a student at New Mexico University and worked part-time as an entertainer at a bar and grill the locals refer to as Jasper’s Jungle. This was prior to your disappearance. Both Jasper’s and Trixie’s, unofficial names by the way, are owned by Llewellyn Gamboldt who’s ninety-seven years old and living in a nursing home in Cambridge. I have a hard time believing this man has a clue of what’s going on, but someone who’s using his name does. I think you do too.”
My stomach knotted tight enough to cut off everything below my navel. If she’d found out all that information, then she might have drawn a target on her back. Damn. This was one more complication we didn’t need.
Matt slipped the folder from my hands. “There’s nothing going on other than what we told you. Alexa went back to Battle Rose to find some answers and got caught up in a mess there.”
“I tried to visit this guy at the nursing home, but they acted like they didn’t know who I was talking about and wouldn’t let me in to see anyone unless I was related. Family wishes and all. Anyway, the orderly who escorted me out said I would have had to repeat my questions several times because Llewellyn’s memory span lasts about two minutes, if that. While I don’t have all of the facts, I’m pretty sure fraud is going on here. If it’s more dangerous than—”
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Matt held up a hand to stop her. “Whatever the connection, I’m sure we can handle it.”
Shaking her head, she stepped away and folded her arms over her chest. She stared at us like a mother at her wit’s end with her children. “I don’t know if I can do this. Whatever you two are hiding, why I’m even a part of it. You’re a lawyer, Matt. Maybe you should take the case.”
While I didn’t mind Matt taking charge because he understood the supernatural challenges we were up against, my stomach nearly crapped on itself at the thought of that. I liked having Matt by my side and trusted him to watch my back more than anyone else. He even took a leave of absence to fly halfway across the country and put up with the bullshit of my alter ego to get me back. If he handled my case, he might have to spend more time in the office instead of doing the footwork with me. Who would watch his back if something bad happened to him while he was there? I trusted nobody but myself to look out for his best interests. Selfish or not, I wanted him right here where I could see him. He meant too much to me. Maybe more than I could’ve imagined.
My God. Was this the wolf or the human inside me talking? Either way, these foreign feelings scared the hell out of me. Was this how I felt about Matt all those months ago? Why he staked out the inn after my disappearance? Holy shit.
“He’s not.” Matt’s mouth was open when I cut him off. This was my problem, so it made sense for me to handle it. “I need him to help me figure out the broken pieces of my memory. He doesn’t have time to worry about my case too. That’s what I need you for. But since you’re asking, I’ll be straight and to the point.”
“Lex—”
I held a hand up to stop him. Monica had stuck her neck out by going to that nursing home. For all I knew, she might have invited trouble on herself and not realized it yet. The more she knew, the better to protect herself. I owed her that much. I didn’t want her to become another dead body on a slab. I cupped Monica’s arm and guided her into the nearest bar, which turned out to be more of a nightclub. While I didn’t drink, her listening to what I had to say might go down easier with a few beers. To my surprise, she didn’t protest.
About a hundred people jammed to the thumping hip-hop beat while waitresses managed to carry their trays of Jello shot and test-tube drinks stretched above their heads and out of the way. We should’ve picked a quieter place, but this was as good as any if we didn’t want someone to hear us. Hell, we hardly heard ourselves.
Matt finished off his beer before I yelled over the alternative rock blasting through the speakers at the opposite end of the building. Monica only had half of her Sam Adams down because she spent more time fidgeting with the cap. I settled for lemonade, though I wished for once that I had the stomach for at least hard lemonade.
Marcia Colette
“Robert Gamboldt owns both Jasper’s Jungle and Trixie’s Tricks.” I slid a finger along the sweaty side of the glass. “That crap about Jasper’s being a bar and grill, and Keisha being an entertainer sounds just like that. Crap. If what you said about Llewellyn was true, then I’m guessing Robert is using his relative’s name as a front.”
Monica lowered her gaze. “For what? Money laundering? Drugs?”
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling my lost memories hold the key. Until I can unlock them, we’ve got nothing to go on other than hearsay.”
“Not to mention, we don’t know how dangerous these guys are.” Matt flagged down the waitress and pointed at his beer for a refill. Once he got the word out, he shifted in his seat and knitted his fingers together on the table. “They kidnapped Alexa and followed her here to get her back. There’s no telling what these people are capable of. You need to know in case…”
“Oh my God.” Monica sucked in a breath to steady her nerves. “They’re going to come after me too, aren’t they?”
“In all honesty, I don’t know. But I’d feel better if you stayed with someone. Anyone. Until this mess is cleared up. So, if you still want to drop the case, go ahead. I won’t blame you and I certainly won’t stop you. But you needed to know the facts.”
Monica sat in silence. Even after the waitress brought over Matt’s extra beer, the quiet at our table continued while something along the lines of punk and hard rock played in the backdrop. Despite the gulp bobbing in her throat, resolve filled Monica’s face. “I can stay at my fiancé’s condo and I’ll continue to do the case. But if something comes up, you have to promise me you’ll let me know. No more secrets, Alexa. I can’t work like this. Especially since this thing has a mob undertone to it.”
Matt’s head whipped up. His nose wrinkled with a sniff. I watched as something in the distance caught his attention like a piece of fresh kill hanging on a string.
“You guys have to leave.” He shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. I stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Pack members.”
“Huh?” Monica stared between the two of us. “Pack of what?”
I knew what that meant. If we both had to go, then she needed to go first to get away from my strong werewolf scent. Something about Matt’s pack dug a fork into my craw. If they were anything like he said, they would start trouble with me and might finish it with Monica since we had come together. She was a human and a nuisance at most. Me? I was a dangerous nuisance because I lived between the wolf world and the human one. I was a freak in their minds. An abomination.
Grabbing my coat, I scooted out from behind the table. “Let’s go,” I said to Monica.
“What? What’s going on?” She snatched her purse from the seat next to her and stood. “If we’re in trouble—”
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“You’re not.” Matt tossed some cash on the table. “But I will be. Some friends of mine just walked into the bar and they’re the kind of people who like to start trouble whether you’re looking for it or not.”
Monica narrowed her eyes. “What kind of friends are we talking about?”
“The gangster kind.”
I loved how that just fell off his tongue like some everyday word he used in court. No big deal. This is just business. Of course, based on the frown on Monica’s face, I was sure his nonchalance didn’t sit well with her.
“Unbelievable.” Of all the nights for his stupid pack members to visit, why did it have to be this one? I sure as hell wasn’t in the mood for a fight, but knowing his crew, they’d probably be the first to start one. Matt mouthed a curse. “If they see me here, they’ll want to discuss business. After all, I’ve been avoiding them like crazy these last couple of days to spend the time with you. To help you through your ordeal and all.” He glanced at Monica.
That last part was to feed her a line—I was sure of it. She didn’t understand pack business, and neither did I for that matter because I didn’t know what it was like to really be with one. However, my instincts had my nerves on end. They said we were about to step in a pile of shit if the pack caught me here with their wolf.
“Come on. It’s better this way.” I cupped her elbow and started into the crowd.
“Wait!” Matt caught up to me just as I shoved her into the thickness of the gyrating horde and was about to start in another direction. He tipped his head down to mine and delivered a kiss deep enough to take my heart with it when he came up for a breath. Gosh, I loved the way that man kissed. When he pulled away, his eyes met mine and he slipped a piece of paper in my palm.
“What’s this?” I was about to open it and see for myself.
He closed my fingers over it. “It’s the name and address of a friend. Get in touch with him. Before I went after you, I told him all about what’s going on. I didn’t want Monica to see you with it or she might have started asking questions. Anyway, Tate said he’d help. He’s a good friend of mine and I trust him with my life.”
“You’re asking me to trust a stranger with mine. Are you nuts?”
A large smile bowed his lips, sinking dimples into his cheeks. “Just trust me, okay? I don’t want to leave you high and dry without someone watching your back. Tate’s a good guy. I’d never lead the woman I’ve fallen in love with astray.”
“M—”
A hand touched my arm before the words slipped out. Had I heard him right? Too bad I didn’t have time to analyze that because Monica had made her way back and given me those questioning eyes before she opened her mouth.
Marcia Colette
“Are you coming?” She planted a hand on her hip. “I’m not in the mood to get mixed up with trouble. You’re giving me enough of that as it is.”
And I bet her bill was going to reflect it too. “Yeah. I’m right behind you.” I turned her around and shoved her into the crowd, aiming her toward the back door.
I followed, but my gaze never left Matt. Sentiment wasn’t my strong suit, but Lord knows the heaviness weighed down my chest with each step. Both of our eyes were on each other until I no longer saw him among the waving hands and bobbing heads on the dance floor. I just prayed that wasn’t a sign it would be the last time I’d see him. If so, there wasn’t a crypt his pack could hide in where I wouldn’t hunt them down to get him back. He didn’t belong with them. He belonged with me. 142
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I waited with my fingernails digging into the edge of a brick building more than a half a block away, and the wind blowing in my favor. Not theirs. Their scents drifted across my nose among the smell of gas and oil from the traffic roaring down the street. Add that to the delicious grilled-steak aroma from the restaurants and the sugary pastries from the bakery and my scent was secured. The back-door exit helped too.
Watching those bastards flank Matt on both sides as they escorted him away from the club dug at my soul. I wanted to rip him from their hands. He was mine dammit! Not theirs. Parry had lost his claim on his wolf. I was sure of that.
A brown minivan pulled to the side of the curb. After hailing a cab for Monica, I chose to stay. Actually, I had a feeling my instincts chose for me. I pressed my back against the brick wall in the alley and made sure my body remained in the shadows.
Two more people exited the van to greet him. Despite the smiles, thumps to the back and jokes going around, something in Matt’s empty eyes made it forced on his part. Twice they settled on me as though he saw through my dark cover and longed to be with me instead. At least, that was what I told myself. A slinky woman stepped out of the open side door. She was more legs than anything else. She had curly blond hair that stretched the length of her back and wore a crop top with a striped mini skirt. If she bent over, all of her business would be out. Hell, the thing barely covered the lower curve of her ass. Perfect Trixie material, if you asked me. When she wrapped her arms around Matt and molded against his body, she planted a deep, sultry kiss on his mouth. Why that fucking whore. That bitch had better be glad I had purposefully glued my feet to this alley. I’d snatch her to baldness and push her skank behind in front of a tour bus. How dare she—?
This wasn’t helping. I needed to keep my cool.
Matt hugged her back with his arms slipping around her rail-thin waist. Although the kiss didn’t look like much, his holding her said enough. Perhaps I needed to rethink what we’d started back at that cabin. Or at least lay down some parameters, assuming he’d go along with them. A guy who claimed to be falling in love with someone didn’t kiss or hold another woman like that. A deep breath cleaned my brain. We needed to sort out our lost memories first. Love, or any hints thereof, had to wait.
Marcia Colette
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the piece of paper Matt had given me. It had a phone number and the address of his friend. Once everyone got into the minivan and it pulled away from the curb, I stepped out of the shadows and hailed my own taxi.
Going to Tate’s house wasn’t at the top of my list. I preferred hitting up the older Gamboldt at the nursing home and cutting off his breathing tube until he gave me some information. Unfortunately, my cruelty hadn’t reached that point yet. It was a fleeting thought at most. Besides, the fatigue clawing at my bones convinced me otherwise. I needed a safe place to crash for the night and Matt had suggested his friend who he trusted with his life. I wasn’t sure I trusted this guy with mine. But it wasn’t like I had much of a choice. Most likely, someone had twenty-four-hour surveillance on the Crescent Inn by now. I arrived at an old brownstone not too far from the Theatre District. I double-checked the address on the slip of paper with the numbers on the small window above the door. This was the place. After hiking up the steep concrete stairs, I slid a finger down the names listed by the entrance and found Tate’s. As a guy exited the building, I grabbed the large metal door and hurried inside. About a minute later, my knocks echoed down the hall. Doors were the same chestnut brown as the floor. Everything else was painted paisley blue. It would’ve looked nice had it not been for the scratches mucking up the paint job and dulling the floors. At the end of the hall, someone had parked their bike in front of the window leading to the fire escape. A thick, musty scent corroded my nose. I bet months of mold and mildew lived in and around the AC vents.
Tate wasn’t what I expected. He stood about an inch or two taller than me, but it made getting mesmerized by his startling sky-blue eyes easier. They sparkled like a Siamese cat’s. He was bald, but with a sexy appeal. His warm smile made me smile back. Although he wasn’t much in terms of height, he bulked up pretty well underneath his green scrubs. When he took my backpack, I noticed muscles roping his upper arms.
“Matt told you I had a girlfriend, right?” Tate carried my backpack down the hall and entered a room near the back of his apartment.
“No.” Did he want me to follow him? I stood facing the living room with the hallway and kitchen on my left. “Is that a problem?”
After exiting the room, he sauntered down the corridor smiling. “Not unless you’re turned on by this beautiful body.”
I went blank, unsure of how I should take that. “You’re trying too hard.”
Laughing, he playfully slapped my elbow. “I’m just kidding. I wanted to see the look on your face. Relax, okay?”
I nodded and let go of the breath I’d been holding.
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He tipped his head to meet my eyes. “Everything’s going to be okay. No worries.” Slipping around me in the somewhat tight living quarters, he entered the kitchen and went straight for the fridge. “You hungry? When Matt called from the van, I ran downstairs to the grocer and picked up some food. I don’t know what you like, but I pretty much got the basics.”
“No thanks.”
“You know, there’s nothing in the rule book that says you have to stand there like a statue. Have a look around. It’s good to see Matt hanging out with someone outside the pack for a change.”
I managed to lift my head over my shoulder before the rest of my body followed through in that same direction. Something about his place made me nervous. Although Tate hadn’t given me any reason to agonize, I couldn’t help the touch of anxiety coursing through my gut. I just didn’t want to be here. This was another wolf’s residence. His den.
Setting my preternatural instincts aside, I sat on the chestnut brown couch. The thing molded to my body, fitting like a glove. I noticed a spread of JAMA and NIH magazines on the coffee table.
“You’re into medicine?” I picked up a magazine and flipped through it. The refrigerator door closed. Tate stood behind the counter pouring something. “I’m a pediatric RN at Mass General. For some reason, my Alpha seems to think that makes me close enough to being a doctor. So, I study up on things whenever I get a chance. And before you ask, I’ve never heard of Pippa the witch. Matt asked me to ask around just in case.”
“You’re not a real doctor? I mean—don’t get me wrong or anything. I’m sure you’re smart like that.”
He chuckled. “Lex, if you had any idea how many times our pack likes to pick fights among themselves you’d understand why. Besides, it’s not like we can go to doctors. Unfortunately, my Alpha doesn’t care that I would rather work with kids than a pack of wolves.”
Hearing him use my nickname was weird. Still, I didn’t correct or ask why. Matt must have talked a lot about me.
“Tell me something.” Tate entered the living room with two glasses of what looked like orange juice.
“You and Matt an item? ’Cause with your scent alone, I can see why.”
“Don’t you start too.”
A huge smile splayed his baby face. “Come on. You smell like a delicious steak with a little wolf seasoning on top.”
“Coming from a man I hardly know that sounds wrong in every sense of the word.”
“Only to human ears.” He handed me my drink. “Matt suggested I give you something to help you sleep since you’ve been sleeping like shit lately. So, I slipped something in your drink. He means well and all, but I’ve got this thing about drugging people against their wishes.” Tate sipped his drink before plopping down in the matching chair. “Matt filled me in on your amnesia. And if it weren’t for you being a werewolf I’d—”
Marcia Colette
“Half,” I interjected.
He chuckled. “Half then. Anyway, I’d send you both to the hospital for psychiatric evaluations. He made me write a bunch of information about him and you in case you both went missing. But, I understand where his concerns are coming from. Working on a few hours sleep isn’t going to fix anything.”
“Can you…?” I had a problem with asking a complete stranger for help, but Matt trusted this guy with my life. If I couldn’t be real with him, then what was the point in my being here? “Is there anything you can do to help me get my memories back?”
He shook his head. “Nurse. Not a therapist. He also gave me the time for your appointment with that Dr. Manish Anri guy and reminded me to tell you to tell the truth. About being half werewolf and all. Just don’t show him anything that might prove who you are. If that doesn’t win you a get-out-of-jail-becauseI’m-a-nut card, then nothing will.” He pointed at my glass. “You gonna drink that or would you like something that isn’t spiked?”
A sip brought a delicious coolness down my throat. It was orange juice, but there was something slightly medicinal about it. Keeping the nightmares away was the only reason I drank it. Enough of them had plagued me on the plane ride. Twice I woke up with a start and got an eyeful from the passengers. Something mind-numbing would be great right about now.
I set the glass on the coffee table. “I need my memories back.”
“I’m sure you do.” Tate threw back the rest of his orange juice before placing his glass next to mine. Eventually, whatever Tate put in my drink would take hold and I’d succumb to sleep. There were still some things I wanted—needed—to get off my chest. “What do you know about psychics?”
“Psychics?”
“Some of my memories had to do with psychic women, I think. They worked with me at a strip bar. There was also a rich banker, but I have the feeling he wasn’t the only one. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I can’t get the word ‘scam’ out of my head every time I think about it.”
Tate sat in silence with a finger tapping his bottom lip. He concentrated on an invisible spot on the other side of the room a few seconds before he spoke. “I don’t know about psychics and stuff like that, but I’m at your beck and call to find out.”
Good. Come morning we’d start at that nursing home.
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Chapter Thirty
Soft light broke through the sheer curtains and landed across the bed. Tate must have tucked me in because a knit blanket covered everything up to my shoulders. What kind of guy kept a knit blanket around? The room was small with only a full-size bed, a closet and a chest of drawers by the wall. Several picture frames lined the surface. One of them was a photo of him and Matt holding up their catch after what looked like an enjoyable day of fishing.
When I pushed the blanket back, cold air whooshed against my legs, inciting a round of gooseflesh. He had taken my pants off too. I’ll give him the shoes, socks, and pants but for his sake, those had better be the only things he had taken from me.
Light shone across Tate’s face from the door I had opened. He lifted his arm to block it out. He pushed off his sleeping bag and placed a gun on the floor next to the flattened pillow. I blinked. “What are you doing in the hall?”
“Watching you.” He picked himself off the floor and stretched his arms over his head. His baggy shirt and mismatched pajama bottoms shuffled with him as he walked down the hall. “You hungry?”
“You left your gun on the floor.”
“Oh yeah. Bring it with you. I usually keep it in a lockbox on the fridge.” He disappeared into the kitchen.
Something about that didn’t sound right. Why would a werewolf keep a gun handy? Then again, it was probably faster to grab it than to change to his four-legged form. But that begged the question of why he needed it in the first place.
Doing as he said, I picked up the gun and met him in the kitchen. I placed it on the granite top while he measured out the dark coffee grounds.
Upon first glance around the apartment, I couldn’t find a phone. “I need to call Matt. I want to find out if he’s okay.”
Tate filled the pot with water at the sink. “It’s by the window, but you can’t call him.”
“Why not?”
“Because if you call the den from my number and ask for Matt, there’ll be hell to pay. Parry will think I’ve given the number to my human girlfriend. I’m not angling to be on that bastard’s bad side. Threequarters of the pack are ass-kissers who’ll be more than happy to rat me out. It was hard enough to convince everyone that my lover was just my plaything.”
Marcia Colette
I planted a hand on my hip while standing in the kitchen. “How can you let your best friend go with those maniacs? Why don’t the two of you just get the hell out of town? Start elsewhere?”
Tate emptied the pot of water through the vent on the top of the coffee maker and pressed the button for brew. “It’s complicated. Our brains are genetically wired to follow an Alpha wolf. Perhaps not to our deaths, but close enough to it. That’s the way it is with a pack.”
I must have lacked that werewolf gene. “Now that sounds more like brainwashing to me.”
He laughed. “If you want, I’ll call Matt for you. But I’m pretty sure he’s doing okay. If not, I would’ve been down there nursing his wounds instead of in this kitchen with you.”
“Call him. In the meantime, can I use your cell phone? I have to call my inn to make sure everyone is okay there. Then, I want to see what the visiting hours are like at the elder Gamboldt’s nursing home.” I glanced at the clock. “All while hoping I can keep my appointment with the shrink.” This was going to be one hell of a day and it had only begun.
Between phone calls and filling our stomachs with breakfast, we touched base with everyone we needed to talk to. Not to mention, I got sidetracked when Tate handed me the phone to talk to Matt. Nothing filled me with relief more than to hear his chuckle and imagine those cute dimples with every happy gesture. God help me, I just wanted to hold him in my arms again. Was that asking too much? I called the Crescent Inn last to make sure Charles and Flora knew I was back in town and okay. Having been away all this time, I couldn’t bear their not knowing. Dane answered the phone. “Angel?”
My heart caught in my throat at the way that name rolled off his tongue. My hand shook, ready to press the button to hang up. I couldn’t bring my thumb to drop on the power button. For a family friend, as Matt called him, he had a certain power over me that implied I would be breaking some sort of unsaid vow if I disconnected. Perhaps this was the wiring thing that Tate mentioned earlier. If so, I didn’t like it. I gulped. “Dane?”
He sighed. “Thank God. Where the hell have you been?”
How dare he take that tone of voice with me? “It’s not important. But if you spoke to Flora, then you probably know about my amnesia. Do me a favor and at least fill me in on a few things before you decide to chew me out. Starting with that guy who claims he’s my father. How is he?”
As it turned out, Dane had sent him down to Charleston with my sister, Genevieve, and my mom for safekeeping. He and my father had it fixed in their heads I’d be safer with my family until this thing blew over and suggested I come back to the inn so he could escort me to them. Like that would happen. I already had miniature panic attacks thinking he’d probably had the call traced. There was a part of me that said I should do everything in my power to make sure he and Tate never met. Two wolves from two different packs and both vowing to protect me. Not a good combo at all.
“When are you coming back to the inn?”
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I switched my phone to the less sweated ear. “When I know you’re not going to hide me away with the rest of my family. Whether you like it or not, I have to figure this mess out.”
“We can figure it out together.”
“No, we can’t. You made that much clear when you sent everyone away. My mother didn’t raise stupid kids.”
“How would you know? I thought you had amnesia?”
Smart ass. I clenched my teeth until my annoyance with him settled down. “Look, buddy. Don’t play with me. I’m not in the mood. I’ve got crazy Romas who are probably out there looking for me as we speak. Not to mention a lunatic venture capitalist who has psychics on the payroll and some sort of—”
“Venture capitalist? Who?”
I paused. “His name is Robert Gamboldt. Why?”
Dane muttered something under his breath. He cursed several times before coming back to the phone.
“I know the guy because I’m a businessman myself. Remember? No—wait! Don’t answer that. Anyway, I’ve been keeping an eye on this area ever since I invested my money in your bed and breakfast. That guy has a reputation for being a slimy-ass bastard, but he’s also untouchable. He has figureheads, but that’s about it. If what you say is true about psychics on the payroll, that would explain his amazing luck for picking investment winners.”
“Did you know he’s able to control minds?”
Dane grumbled his frustrations over the earpiece. “No. But if I had to guess based on what he did to you, I’d say he’s more powerful than his crystal-ball-reading staff. Not many people can manipulate a werewolf’s mind like he did yours. Assuming that’s how this whole amnesia thing started. From where I’m standing, it makes sense.”
I lowered my gaze in shame, though not feeling the heat that usually flooded my face. This was more like frustration for being so weak. “He got to me, didn’t he?”
“But the way I look at it, he’d still have you if you weren’t half werewolf, stubborn as hell and one heck of a fighter.”
His compliment softened my mouth to a half smile. I never thought I’d see stubbornness as an asset. Unfortunately, that didn’t change the fact that Gamboldt had gotten to me.
“Angel…” Dane paused. “If this is about him, you need to get out of the city. You need to walk away until we can—”
“Screw that!”
“Look, I know you’re scared—”
“This bastard is the reason why I lost my memory to begin with. He knows me. Whether I’m hiding in Charleston or Guam, he’ll find me, Dane. That’s what he does and he’s damn good at it. My memory’s filled with more holes than a beehive. Hell, I don’t even know if you and I are lovers or not.”
Marcia Colette
“Oh God.” His voice teemed with disdain. “Have you lost your freakin’ mind? As much as I love you, I’m not in love with you. You’re like a daughter to me. Not to mention your father would blow my head off with a shotgun.” His voice became distant as he spoke to someone in the background. The bedroom door creaked opened down the hall. Tate stepped into the living room wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. He mouthed something to me and thumbed at the front door. I waved my hand over my shoulder. I had no idea what he wanted, but it was time to end this call. I pressed the phone closer to my ear. “I have to go. There’s a lead I need to check out.”
“Not alone you don’t. It isn’t safe.”
“I won’t be alone.” I hung up before he fished a clearer answer out of me.
“You okay?” Tate’s heartbreaking blue eyes searched me.
“Fine.”
But I wasn’t. We were about to tangle with a supernatural who had unknown powers. Not only that, I was dragging another innocent into the fight. Note to self: call Monica sometime today and make sure she is still alive.
I stopped off at a pawnshop to see if there was a weapon small enough for me to conceal while walking the streets of Boston. I found a knife with an ankle strap and a belt holding a horizontal sheath that fit around my waist for hiding a blade at the small of my back. Since it was cool enough to warrant a jacket, nobody would see it. The shop owner tried to get me to buy a gun, but my gut balked. In my flashbacks, my weapon of choice was a crossbow. I’d stick to that and knives until I remembered otherwise. And since walking the streets with a crossbow was probably against the law, the blades had to do.
“What now?” Tate zipped his jacket and shoved his hands in his pockets. I stared. “Don’t you have a job or something? Really. As much as I like you, I don’t want—”
“I do.” He grinned. “But Matt asked me to stick to you like glue. Besides, I’m in love with your scent.”
“Great. A talking shadow who has his mind on my body odor. That sounds enticing.” My eyes rolled. I continued down the street, hoping to figure out a way to lose him. Tate wasn’t a bad guy or anything. Unfortunately, anyone who tried to help me had this habit of disappearing or dying. Look what had happened to my father. Not to mention Matt’s personal assistant, Luz. In a way, maybe I should be thankful that Parry had summoned Matt back to their den. On second thought, not! A car pulled up to the curb just as we stepped off. A second or two later and it would’ve taken us out. Tate looped his arms around my waist and pulled me back onto the sidewalk. Tinted windows lowered on the black town car. Ignoring the blaring horns, the driver slowly inched the car the remainder of the way around the curb. He stopped when Tate and I were in view of the back open window.
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A middle-age guy lowered his head toward us. Except for the thick black hairs around the edge, he was balding. A real horseshoe head. He slid his glasses up on his hooked nose and smiled with crooked teeth.
“Ms. Wells.” A slight Slavic accent came across with his charm. “Would you do me the honor of stepping inside? Please. It’s seems we’re not the only tails you and your friend have picked up.”
My head shot over my shoulder. Dozens of people sauntered down Berkley Street and I couldn’t tell one from the other. The only danger in the area was the drivers gunning through red lights. A familiar head ducked behind a poll, back turned to us. Could it be…? Noooooo. There was no way it was—
Sammy glimpsed over his shoulder. I knew those eyes and that brown hair anywhere. Through some sort of divine prophecy, he had tracked me down. Wherever he was, Paul wasn’t far. Though I doubt they’d start trouble in public, I didn’t want to chance that they might have more of Robert’s goons with them. So much for going to that nursing home.
Our choices were simple. Either Tate and I go with Sammy and Paul, because I doubt Tate would let me go alone. Or, I got in the car with the old fart who I knew nothing about. Even worse, there was a humungous chance he worked for Robert and wanted to offer me a nice ride back to Arizona as a doped-up piece of luggage.
Not much of a choice, if you asked me. I glanced at Tate before I stepped off the curb. The werewolf grabbed my arm. “Are you nuts? You don’t know who this guy is.”
“You’re right.” I freed my arm and pointed at Paul who was marching up on Sammy’s left side. “But unfortunately, if those two guys reach us, they’re going to offer me a one-way trip back to Battle Rose. I’ve been through that door. I’d rather try this one.”
Again, I started for the car. This time, I reached under my jacket as though it were in the way and curled my fingers around the leather hilt of my knife. If anyone was about to deliver a surprise, I’d rather it be me.
I sat on the expensive seat, but stayed close to the door in case the driver should think about speeding off. Tate lowered his head and shoulders to look inside. He offered up a smile then turned his attention back to where Sammy and Paul stood. To my surprise, they stopped and stared like two hyenas waiting for their turn for a piece of the kill.
I brought my focus back on Horseshoe Head. “What do you want? Did Gamboldt send you?”
The man shook his head. “No. In a way, the Lennors gave me no choice after they tried to warn you about us. But that doesn’t matter anymore because I’m sure you know all about my clan, the Garridans. Speaking of which, we would appreciate it if you’d return to Arizona where you’ll be safe. No tricks this time.”
“Uh-huh. So much for door number two.”
Marcia Colette
I snatched the knife from the sheath and stabbed the old man in the thigh. No more games. No more lies. No more dicking around. My beautiful wolf was gone and there was a chance I might not get him back until this whole thing blew over. Far be it from me to hold back now. When it came to survival, the wolves had it right. Survival of the fittest. I was about to act on mine. The knife stuck out of his expensive black slacks with blood oozing down the side and leaking onto the leather seat. I wondered if he thought his white upholstery still made a statement. While shocked and sputtered gasps tortured him, I continued to drown him with my glare. When he grabbed the knife to yank it out, I slapped his hand away and wrapped my fingers around the hilt. With my free hand, I snagged his fragile throat. His eyes bulged as he sputtered in agony.
When the driver lifted a gun over the seat, Tate was on him. He grabbed the man’s wrist, squeezing until his fingers loosened around the handle and trigger. The gun dropped to the floor by my feet. I rested my foot on top of it. Tate refused to let go, growling a warning to the terrified man. Good thing I hadn’t tried to lose him after all.
“Careful,” I warned Tate. “We’ll need him to take a few notes. I don’t think the backseat driver here is going to be in the mood.”
Tate released him and picked up the gun from under my foot.
I shifted in the seat to make myself more comfortable. Too bad I couldn’t say the same for Garridan’s messenger. “If your people want to talk, then take this number down.” Thank goodness, I had invested in a cell phone. Tate handed the driver a pen and he wrote it on the back of his sore hand. “Tell the Garridans I’m nobody’s property, including their buddy, Robert Gamboldt. If they want to talk me out of the massacre my pack and I have planned for them, now would be a good time.”
I yanked my knife from his thigh and backed out of the car, bumping into Tate along the way. This was too sweet of a weapon to leave behind. I grabbed the door and slammed it shut, sad that I hadn’t broken the window in the process. We watched the car speed off down the street, fishtailing and missing other cars by inches while bouncing in and out of potholes.
Someone had to break the silence between the two of us. The last thing I needed was Tate fearing little old me. Now was a good time to find out if he still wanted any part of this. “What’s on your mind? Having second thoughts about me?”
“I think he’s convinced you’re one crazy bitch.” A smirk curled the corners of his mouth. “I, on the other hand, believe you’re insane for bluffing the guy like that.”
I glanced over my shoulder, looking for Sammy and Paul. To my surprise, they had disappeared. Did they expect me to get in a car with a stranger and drive off on a road trip? Tapping Tate on the arm, I motioned with my chin for us to continue down the street. If those two were still waiting to make a move, why make it easy for them?
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“I wasn’t bluffing,” I said. “I’m part werewolf and I don’t have any attachments to the Boston Pack. But if what I’ve seen in my visions is right, then I have connections to other werewolves elsewhere.”
Tate ran his hand across his bald head. “You don’t want to go there, Lex. Trust me. Parry won’t like having another pack in his territory. He’s psycho enough to burn your B&B to the ground, if he has to.”
“Relax. I’m not bringing anyone here. All I need is for the Garridans to think I am. It doesn’t matter if they think my fake pack is Parry’s or not. I’m hoping the possibility alone will be enough.”
I was about to sheathe the knife when Tate stopped me. I stared at him. “I can’t walk down the street with a bloody knife.”
Tate took the knife and slid the flat of the blade on the inside of his coat. “You can’t put water on a nice piece of steel like this either. There. It’s as clean as it’ll get until we can pick up a can of oil or something.”
“I know that. But do you see a can of oil around here?”
He slid his arm across my shoulders and laughed. “I still think you’re insane. And what did you mean by having visions of other werewolves? Does Dane have a pack or something that you’re part of?”
I stopped and stared. That question triggered at least a dozen more in my mind and the only answer I received was a combination of “I don’t know” and “maybe”. While I wanted someone to confide in, I wasn’t sure if Tate was that person. “Dane is a werewolf. I think he has friends who are werewolves too. Whether or not they’re a pack, I don’t know.”
We didn’t make it to the end of the next block when I received a phone call. One of the Garridans took me up on my offer for a meeting.
Chapter Thirty-One
Ms. Garridan—not the old guy’s wife unless he’s into them that young—wore a black leather skirt with fishnet pantyhose. A matching, floor-length duster swept across the floor of Seekers Tavern. She wore a white blouse underneath with too many buttons loose at the top and enough cleavage to make a man drool to his kneecaps. Her black bob with the royal blue highlights stood out against her pale skin. Her cat-like eyes picked me out of the crowd. Stalking toward the booth where I sat, she threw her coat out of the way before taking a seat across from me.
Two wrestler-sized men came in behind her. She nodded to them and they headed to the bar like good, obedient dogs.
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Tate remained seated at the far end. He tipped his Samuel Adams to me. My eyebrow arched, alerting him to the two guys. Again, he tipped his beer. When he cut his gaze toward Garridan’s bodyguards, I reached underneath the back of my jacket and looped my fingers around my knife. Just like her horseshoe-head father, grandfather or decrepit husband, I wasn’t taking any chances.
Her finger stabbed at my face.
When her mouth opened, I cut her off. “You’ll want to move that before I slice it off for you.”
Garridan smirked, blue-lipstick lips shimmering under the light. “I could kill you right now, you know.”
“So much for asking nicely.”
The knife came out slicing across the tip of her finger before she realized what had happened. Blood oozed from a fine line, dripping on the table. The astonished look on her perfectly made-up face: priceless. She quickly replaced it with anger and began sucking on the wound to keep it from bleeding. I feigned boredom with a sigh. “You wanted to talk? Talk. I’m on a schedule here. My shrink is expecting me to be on time for our session today.”
From her deadpan stare to her knitted eyebrows, I knew she had trouble knowing whether or not to believe me. For once, this psycho thing just might work in my favor.
“Figures.” The woman folded her fingers together on the table. A trail of blood seeped down the knuckle of her thumb. “You stabbed my uncle. By all rights, I should—”
I offered up an innocent smile. “Is that who that was? I thought he was a snake in the grass, so I was just doing some pest control.”
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She leaned back in the seat as the waiter showed up to take our drink order. Garridan requested a scotch on the rocks while I settled for lemonade. She tipped her head as if to ask why I wasn’t drinking. If something went down, I wanted to be clearheaded enough to get my ass out of a jam.
“Do you want my help or not?”
Good point. It was time for me to rein in my condescension. If she wanted to help me after I’d just stabbed her uncle, then she was either desperate or stupid. From her stiffened back and perfect posture, I had a hard time figuring out which was true.
“Fine.” I sat back. “Tell me something I don’t already know starting from your guys’ auction on the fairgrounds.”
“When you went inside the tent, you and your friend were tagged.”
“As in cattle for the slaughter?” Oooo, I didn’t like the sound of that. But, I had to keep my cool if I wanted information.
She nodded. “That’s how we helped to recruit those Gamboldt needs for his cause. We didn’t want to do it, but we owed Robert money and he was hoping other supernaturals might come to our auction looking for magical trinkets or something of that nature. If so, then he would hit them up to join his ranks.”
“And if you didn’t give him what he wanted?”
She shifted in her seat, gaze lowering to the tabletop. “He’d go through all of us until he deemed our debt paid. He’s a powerful man. So powerful, in fact, that it’s best to be on his good side rather than his bad one. Until now, he scared me more. After all you’re a hybrid werewolf. Your other half is human. Robert is neither. He’s a monster even if he doesn’t change into one. In fact, after he got his hands on you, he considered our debt paid in full. When you escaped, it became null and void again. Uncle Cam got nervous and did what he thought was best.”
I clung to that part about the balance of fear shifting in my direction. I must have done something that had made them change their minds, though I didn’t see my breaking Gamboldt’s hold that big of a deal. Then again, he’d erased my entire life. That alone damaged me. Whether or not I was ready to forgive her for giving in to a bully was another story. I had a lot of fight in me growing by the second, but I couldn’t say the same for the Roma. Until now, I hadn’t met any and knew very little about their laws. She continued. “My aunt, Tatiana, sensed who you were. She has the gift of seeing the muló. The evil spirits of the vampires and shapeshifters.”
“I’m not evil.”
She snorted and shook her head. “But you’re part werewolf, which we see as evil regardless of your intentions. That’s enough.” Garridan slipped her hand inside her coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. I pointed at the No Smoking sign hanging on the opposite wall. Miffed, she shoved the cigarettes back in her pocket.
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She settled for tapping her cigarette lighter on the table. “Aunt Tatiana is an old woman. She’s my grandaunt really. Uncle Cam, her nephew, asked you to return to Arizona because he thought it would keep Aunt Tatiana out of Robert’s sights. A trade, if you will.” She stopped long enough for a small group of people to walk by before she continued. Once they were gone, she leaned closer. “Based on what Uncle Cam told me, it sounds like you’re in a lot of trouble with the police. Robert can help you get out of it, but that means returning to him.”
The waiter approached the table with our drinks and offered us menus. We declined, of course. This wasn’t a social event. A semi-civil one, perhaps. The way we stared at each other, unwilling to give the waiter a glance, we both knew it. Meals you have with family and acquaintances. We were neither. I sipped my tangy lemonade before sliding my finger along the cool surface of the glass. “That’s not going to happen. I’m enjoying my freedom too much.”
“But he can—”
I held up a hand to stop her. “Anything he can do to get my name cleared carries too high of a price. Not only that, I’m not a psychic like the rest of his whores. Why risk almost everything you have to get me back? Huh? Whether you realize it or not, he’s got something else going on and he needs me to complete it.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I can’t. Call it a hunch, because that’s all I have to go on at the moment.” That last part wasn’t exactly true. I had a hunch about Gamboldt having psychics on his staff and them reading the patrons without their permission. Though it screamed scam and blackmail I needed her—someone—to connect the lines for me to be certain.
After gulping her drink, she slapped her glass on the table, rattling the ice cubes. “He made the Top Ten list of Boston’s Most Profitable Entrepreneurs. I’ve seen this man’s work. He’s not afraid of anything, including you. I’ve seen him sit in a room and collect money or deeds from small businesses like they were handing over trading cards. If he’s got something on the side that involves you, you can bet it has something to do with this. Those charities are nothing more than a cover.”
I leaned forward with another question weighing on my mind. “What is his business exactly?”
She shrugged. “Nobody knows. As far as a building goes, that little office he has in Marshfield is about the only structure that has his name tied to it. He could be running whatever it is from his garage.”
The image of my knife flashed in my mind. I clutched my sweaty glass to keep from sliding my fingers across my body to grab it. I had no reason to kill this woman as long as she gave me what I needed to know. I closed my eyes and rubbed them as though that would get the image out of my head. If anything, it gave me a headache.
“Do it.”
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My head shot up. I glanced around the bar to see who was talking to me. There was no one. Even the Garridan woman was looking at me strange.
Heat began seeping across my front, reaching up to my throat. I tugged at my collar. There wasn’t any rash on the backs of my hands or arms, nor did they look flush. Could all of this be in my mind? It had to be. There was no way I’d outright kill someone and Garridan hadn’t given me a reason to either.
“Kill her! Do it now!”
“No!” The word jumped out of me. I stared at the Roma with my heartbeat reverberating in my throat, hoping my outburst didn’t signal my going crazy despite the voice in my head. But did that stop her scrutiny? Of course not. Those narrowed eyes said she was in the middle of drawing a conclusion.
“He’s reading you, isn’t he? I can sense it.” Her breathing picked up as her gaze swept the room. I shook my head, struggling to speak between pants. “He’s not reading me. This feels like something different. Like…” I didn’t know how to explain it. “There’s a voice in my head. Telling me to do stuff. I don’t want to, so—”
“He’s trying to establish his grip on you again. He’s been tapped into your brain for months because of the residue left behind. There might not be much for him to grab, but he’s a persistent cockroach to try. And if he’s telling you to do things while I’m sitting here, that means we’ve finally made his bad side.”
I leaned across the table. “What kind of supernatural is he? If he can do this to me, I need to know.”
She cocked her head as though surprised I hadn’t figured it out. “Mind control. But you’re stronger than I thought if you’re able to stave him off while I’m sitting here. I should take that as a sign to leave.”
Her goons moved, chairs scraping across the floor, but Tate was on them. One look of his startling blue eyes and I knew they went from dazzling during his calm mood to dangerous. Garridan’s men must have noticed Tate’s change in demeanor too, because they stopped, unable to take their eyes off him. If they didn’t know who he was, they weren’t about to take the chance to find out. Smart men. I grabbed her wrist to keep her from moving. She couldn’t leave as long as I had questions. While the voices continued to assault my brain, I ignored them and did my best not to cross the line from desperation to following through with stabbing her in the throat. After all, that was what the voice wanted me to do.
“Make it quick and easy” , it said. “Wednesday is a threat to you and everyone you hold dear.” There was no way in hell I’d walk away with that kind of blood on my hands. Not even if Garridan held all of the secrets of universe. They weren’t worth a damn if I ended up in jail. Garridan choked back a scream. When she realized it was about to jet out of her mouth, she clamped her lips together and scowled.
This was getting me nowhere. The more the voices egged me on, the harder it was to let go. Not only that, Garridan’s men forgot about Tate and focused on us. The only saving grace I had was Garridan signaling them with a hand to keep their place.
I let go of her. “Sorry. I don’t know what…happened. I just… Your name is Wednesday, isn’t it?”
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She rubbed her wrist. There was a momentary flinch at the mention of her name, but it didn’t last. She went back to her stoic visage. “It is. The voices told you this, didn’t they?”
I nodded.
She cleared her throat. “I must go. This place is…” Again, she cleared her throat. She fished one of the ice cubes from her glass and popped it in her mouth. “It’s dangerous for us to meet without some sort of protection. God only knows how far Cam’s—”
When she cleared her throat this time, I slid my lemonade across the table to her. I wasn’t drinking it, so why not? Besides, I needed her to talk to me.
Wednesday grabbed the glass and gulped it down like a drunkard who’d failed detox. Juice slipped down her chin, but that did nothing to slow her gulps. When she finished my lemonade off, she clapped the glass on the table.
“Thirsty?” I asked.
After wiping the back of her hand across her lips, she rose from the bench and stared. “He knows we’re here and we’re talking. He’ll do anything to protect his prized possession, including choking me to silence. The less you know, the easier it’ll be for him take control of you again. My magic can only protect me for so long. I have to go.”
I snatched her hand to keep her from moving. “You have to tell me where to find him.”
A leer curled the corner of her mouth. “He’ll find you if you sit still long enough.”
“Please. I’ll take anything. An address. Another lead. Anything.” I couldn’t plead with her any more than that. She’d said it herself. Gamboldt was most powerful when he kept me in the dark. I wasn’t about to lie down and let this monster have his way with me ever again. “My friend Luz said people reported smelling or sensing earth magic around him. Does any of that ring a bell?”
Wednesday’s eyes widened. When she opened her mouth to speak, a cough tore through her as though it had come from the depths of her lungs. Only smokers had coughs like that. She grabbed her throat and began wheezing. Redness flushed her cheeks. Regardless of the glares her people gave me, I remained steadfast in wanting information.
Chairs scraped the hardwood floors. Both of her bodyguards had left their stools and started for us. Tate approached them from the rear.
I stood and began smacking my hand on her back to loosen her choking fit. “Please. I need more information.”
Garridan pressed her manicured fingers to one of her escort’s chests. She tore the napkin from under her scotch glass—it remained in place like an old magician’s trick. With a flick of her wrist, she produced a pen and began jotting something down.
Her fingers turned brown and began to shrivel around the pen. In seconds they looked like brown tree roots sticking out of her palm. She lifted her shaking hand to her face and stared in agony. Her head fell 158
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back and a high-pitched shriek belted from the depths of her lungs. I covered my ears to keep my eardrums from exploding.
The windows shattered throughout the bar. I ducked, but Tate pulled me to the floor anyway and covered my head and upper body. Screams broke out among the patrons as they dove for cover. The only person left standing was Wednesday. Even her bodyguards had dropped to the hardwood with their hands over their ears.
When she finished her tirade and the last of the glass shards clinked to the floor, I searched the bar. Wednesday was gone.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Flashing lights and dozens of emergency vehicles brought the beginning of the rush hour to a standstill on Boylston Street. The police wrote the incident off as a drive-by. Although common in and around the Boston suburbs for chaos to break out, it was uncommon for something as odd as this in the middle of the day.
Detectives questioned everyone, including us. Running would have made it look like we had something to hide, so we stuck around. Plus, enough people had seen me with her, which made me the most obvious witness. Even Garridan’s wrestler-type bodyguards—she’d left them behind—had agreed. Our story: friends getting together for a few drinks when all hell broke loose. All of us stuck to it, including Garridan’s people. To my shock, none of the patrons remembered Wednesday entering Seekers Tavern. Not even the waiter who’d brought our drinks. So, we never brought it up again. Having to include Wednesday’s two goons with us bothered the hell out of me. Tate’s sideways glares and occasional grumbles at them let me know I wasn’t alone. However, being supernaturals meant we had to put our bickering aside to keep humans ignorant of our business. At least they took it all in stride. My cell phone rang loud enough to dislodge my erratic heart. A deep breath calmed my nerves. Stepping aside, I answered it.
“I’m watching the news,” Dane said. “Where are you?”
“Probably on your TV.” Ignoring a string of expletives in my ear, I glanced at Tate before stepping farther away from the commotion on the street. “Please don’t tell me this isn’t about staying safe. That piece of godfatherly advice is officially null and void.”
“No shit. Look, I’ve got some information for you. Can you get away? Do you need me to pick you up?”
“Yes and no.”
He chuckled. “There’s a tea shop inside the Westin Hotel. It’s a favorite of mine. I’ll meet you there in a half hour.”
I hung up. Looked like Dane and I would finally get a chance to meet. I hoped this one turned out better than the last.
A plethora of teas lined the wall behind the counter. A glass case with dozens of decadent desserts from ladyfingers to slices of seven-layer cake beckoned me. Not many people had frequented the teahouse Stripped
this afternoon, which surprised me. I bet the uproar at Seekers Tavern attracted most of the crowd. It wasn’t every day people had the chance to witness what the police deemed a “drive-by shooting” in downtown Boston.
Dane was on time. His dark hair was slicked back with a few waves running through it. He looked good in his blue shirt with a black leather jacket on top. He walked with a purpose, eyes on me that said I was the only thing on his mind.
Dane placed his hand on the back of the chair across from me. Before he pulled it out, he set his sights on Tate. My bald friend nodded and Dane sat. They must have shared some sort of unspoken language that I missed. In return, Tate excused himself to wait outside, brushing past Dane in silence. I continued staring at his back until he stepped out of sight. “What was that all about?”
“Wolf business.” Dane perused the dessert menu. “He respects me as your Alpha. But if he’s leaving the premises, then I’m assuming he’s not with you.”
“Meaning…?”
He lowered the menu. “He’s not your mate. It takes more than a beta wolf to tame someone like you.”
I folded my arms. “How would you know?”
“Because I know you better than you know yourself right now.” A grin tightened his crescent-shaped lips. He pointed at my half-empty cup. “How do you like the tea?”
“It’s good. Now, you said you had information, so spill.”
Dane reached inside his inner pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. After unfolding it, he slid it across the table. It was a printout of a newspaper article.
The real Keisha Walker had been killed at the tender age of twenty-seven around the time of my disappearance. Her body had vanished from the morgue before the autopsy. While the police still had it listed as an unsolved murder, they speculated the killer might have taken her to cover something up. She’d left behind a three-year-old son whose name was Tyree.
Holy shit.
My thumb touched her paper cheek as I read the article from top to bottom twice. She’d died from an arrow to the chest. The more I read, the more I knew her killer. For the last eight months, I had stared at the sniper every time I looked in the mirror.
My stomach sank to the floor and a tear rolled down my cheek. Another followed as I held my head and leaned on the table, desperate to grasp the situation and any meaning behind it. I had killed people and/or monsters before my memory lapse, and I was certain they’d had a reason to die. As far as I knew, this woman was an innocent single mom trying to make a better life for her child. She had transferred from the University of New Mexico to MIT to finish her mechanical engineering degree. Also, she’d worked as a part-time secretary and volunteered at her local church in Roxbury. I bet anything she’d left New Mexico to
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get away from Gamboldt. The jerk had probably promised to pay for her schooling in return for her stripping at his bar.
I was no better than the crazed werewolves I had killed. Amnesia or not, I did this. I had snuffed out someone as they were trying to turn around their life.
Dane held a napkin to me. Turning my head toward the window, I used it to wipe away my tears. I didn’t want him to see me like this. I’d give anything to be one of those normal pedestrians walking on the street below us. Their lives were normal. Mine wasn’t and would never be. Dane folded his hands together on top of the table. “What the article doesn’t tell you is that she was a telepath and worked for Robert.”
That didn’t come as a surprise, but it got my attention anyway. “A telepath? Just like the other strippers.”
Dane nodded. “That would be my guess. But I’m assuming you know more about that than I do. Whatever is locked away in your psyche, we need to get it out.”
“Oh crap!” I glanced at my watch. I had fifteen minutes to get to Cambridge or miss my appointment with that psychiatrist, psychologist or whoever he was. After one last sip of my tea, I grabbed my jacket and stood. “I have to go. I have an appointment with a shrink.”
“What?”
“It’s a long story. Talk to me on the way.”
“Hold on.” He touched my arm. “What the hell are you seeing a shrink for? Your amnesia?”
“No, for my big toe. You just said—”
Dane shook his head. “No way, Angel. The last thing you need is some guy picking through your brain and finding out you’re half werewolf. I won’t allow it.” He crossed his arms like his word was law. I stared at him, fighting between laughter and giving him a few pieces of my mind about his so-called law and where to stick it. Instead of going for anger, I laid out the facts. “Look, I’ve got a possible murder charge hanging over my head. Not to mention a string of other problems that might result in me doing jail time. If I don’t see this shrink to help me establish my insanity plea, the next time we have a conversation, there will be bulletproof glass and a phone involved. You still want to stop me?”
Dane studied my face for the longest time, as if he were memorizing the pimples or trying to summon one with his mind. When he stepped aside, I darted past him.
However, my bossy werewolf godfather wasn’t leaving anytime soon. He followed Tate and me right down to the curb where we hailed a cab.
“Don’t get me wrong.” Dane leaned forward in the crammed backseat and addressed us. “I hope this doesn’t mean you’re in good with the Boston Pack.”
Tate scowled. “Look, Mr. Dane. I know our Alpha has his issues, but you need to check yourself before you go any further.”
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I held up my hands to calm them both down. And here everyone thought I was the one who needed a shrink. “Whatever territorial problems you two are having, don’t do it in this cab with me sitting in the middle. You two can take that shit outside.” I paused. “No, Dane, I’m not a member of the Boston Pack. I’d rather slit my wrists before joining those asinine ranks. That’s assuming Parry wouldn’t do it himself. And Tate, before you ask, Dane’s an intruder on your land just like me. He’s from….?” I was thinking South Carolina, but I couldn’t be sure about my memory anymore.
“Charleston,” Dane finished.
Score one for me.
“And,” Dane continued, “if you know what your maniac of an Alpha is like, why do you still hang with him? You look like an educated guy. From what I understand, your buddy Matthieu York is too. What gives?”
My mouth opened to answer for him, but I realized I didn’t have one for that. Plus, it was a good question. Once again, the shoddy memory of mine had no recollection of my having a similar conversation with Matt.
Tate stared out the window. “Parry would make life a bitch for us if we ever left. He’s spent years setting up alliances across the country. Not only to protect us, but to keep us prisoner. He has a good deal with me because I work in the medical field. Matt’s a lawyer. We’re like gold in his eyes, which makes him one of the most important supernatural leaders in the city. Crazed or not, our services are needed and people know they have to go through Parry to get them.”
“You stay with him out of fear.” Dane’s even tone made it hard to gage the meaning behind his words.
Watching for a reaction from the driver, I leaned back in my seat in case a fist flew through the air. My face was too fragile to be the stopping force between two wolves gone wild in the backseat of a taxi.
“Knowing his history, I get that.” Dane stared at the back of the cab driver’s head. I must have missed something. “You do?”
He nodded without looking at me. “You’re stronger with a pack than without. Not many human families are in a position to truly seek revenge on your behalf. That’s why most supernaturals are smart enough not to mess with a werewolf. It’s better to align yourself with a pack than become the enemy of one. Because Parry is a psychotic bastard who believes in Roman Coliseum brutality, stray wolves leave tasty little morsels like Tate alone.”
Both Tate and I stared at him.
My eyes narrowed. “Good thing you’re not looking for a fight, huh?”
Dane shrugged. “Not particularly. But don’t get me wrong, Angel. I protect what’s mine. Why do you think I bought that inn? You wanted to keep your lay-off a secret, so you got desperate and settled on the
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first job that came calling. And it just happened to be in another pack’s territory. If you had told me where your new job was sooner, I might have stopped you from making the biggest mistake of your life.”
“Thanks for jabbing me with the idiot stick, but can you wait until I get my memory back so I can mount a proper defense? And don’t sit there like I went out purposefully looking for these guys. Memory loss or not, even I know I’m not that stupid. Did I know about the Boston Pack before I moved?”
“No. But like I said, it’s a good thing I bought the inn when I did. It’s harder to kick you out of the territory when you own a public business on it by human law. And just like I warned you pre-amnesia, Parry would have a fit if he discovered you, which he did. Eventually, he’ll find a way to smoke you out. Count on it. I’m not in the mood to go head to head with someone else without a valid reason and you’re walking that line. Thank God, at least Tate is minding his own business. Unless…” He turned his head to address me. “You’re not sleeping with him, are you?”
“What? ”
Tate’s face contorted. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
Dane’s hands went up in defense. “Relax. Just making sure.”
Yeah. Right. His quick reversal made me think twice about telling him anything about Matt. At some point, I’d have to get Tate alone and tell him not to say a word to Dane. If he and my father were tight, for all I knew my father had sent him to be my personal bodyguard in all facets of this word. Daddy might not take kindly to having his little girl devirginized by a wolf who had a maniac for an Alpha. Assuming I was a virgin when I did Matt.
Again, I glanced at the driver who rolled his eyes. He probably thought there was a nut in every bunch and he’d just happened to pick up three.
We showed up at Dr. Anri’s five minutes early and with a game plan. I would go in while Tate stood by to bail me out in case I said too much. Chances were the shrink would think I was nuts and suggest a round of therapy. Since we didn’t have that kind of time and I’d never see this guy again, what did it matter? Dane didn’t like that idea. He wanted to come in with me and play boyfriend, but I vetoed him. He was still a stranger to me, and Tate had given me more than enough reason to trust him. Unwilling to get into another fight, Dane threw up his hands and said he’d wait outside. Dr. Anri looked like a dork. The twig of a man stared at me through his black-rimmed glasses. His flat hair molded his head and he had a habit of rubbing his trimmed beard. He wore a peanut-colored jacket with a pair of brown slacks and matching loafers.
After about thirty minutes of talking about my feelings and the last thing I didn’t remember before my time at Trixie’s, Anri suggested hypnosis. I quivered at the idea, but if I wanted some clues to what had happened in my life, this was a good way to do it. Tate wanted us to leave. When he saw I wasn’t budging, his eyes narrowed, but he stayed by my side. Matt had really good friends. 164
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Anri led us over to a couch where I concentrated on a penlight. It took about five tries before he finally got me under. The first three tries, I had trouble keeping my giggles under control. I became uninhibited and relaxed while in a state between awake and asleep. I would’ve been happy to stay like this for the rest of the day. It was calming and inviting, like floating on a cloud on my way up to heaven. I was free, flying across the night skyline with the wind ruffling my hair. My beautiful white gown glowed against the moonlight. Stars twinkled like little—
Crack!
My head slammed against the wall. Pain licked through the back of my skull. When I opened my eyes, it looked like the subway had gone through Dr. Anri’s office. A chair lay on the floor while another one rested in pieces on the other side of the room. Propped against the wall was the round top of the table. Who knew where the legs were? A sea of papers were scattered across the floor. Some had torn edges like they’d once belonged to books while others had patient names on them. On the far side of the room, cracked glass webbed from the edges of a windowpane. Clothes disheveled, Tate crumpled to his knees. Three angry claw marks marred his cheek and neck. Next to him lay Dr. Anri. He rolled himself over and straightened his shattered glasses on his nose. He touched his temple and pulled back a blood-covered finger.
I blinked. “Do I even want to know what happened?”
Panting, Tate tore himself off the floor and marched toward me. He grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. Questions marred his worried eyes and not an answer in sight. This couldn’t be good.
“Don’t.” Holding his ribs, Anri winced while picking himself up off the floor. “It’s not her fault.”
“The hell it isn’t.” Tate turned his vehement scowl on Anri. “She almost killed us.”
“What?” I pulled myself away from Tate and backpedaled until I bumped into the wall. “What’s going on? What happened?”
Tate slammed both his hands near my head, trapping me against the cold ivory surface, his glare burrowing into my soul. I didn’t want to be near him with that much fury in his eyes. Unfortunately, he didn’t leave me much of an escape route.
“You fucking bastard.” Tate leaned close enough for the shrink not to hear. “We’ll tear your ass out of her, Gamboldt. That’s a promise.”
I blinked. On second thought, maybe ignorance was bliss…especially if he thought I was Gamboldt. I lifted my head over his shoulder to see Anri making his way to his desk. I lowered my voice to a whisper. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Tate snagged my neck, crushing my throat. “Get out of her. You hear me?”
Gagging, I dug my fingernails into the backs of his hand. “You asshole,” I wheezed. “It’s me. Al—”
Cough. Cough. “Alex…uh.”
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He blinked, but didn’t release me fast enough. I brought my knee up, ready to mash his manly grapes. He grunted.
I glared at him. “Let. Me. Go.”
“Is everything all right?” Anri tipped his head to the side for a better look. Tate’s eyes slid to the corners, following the shrink’s voice. His attention snapped back to me. “Is it really you?”
A light knee-bump raised him up on his tiptoes. Anger tightened my face. “You want to ask me that again?”
“I asked if everything was all right?” Anri’s footsteps started toward us. Tate let go and lowered his arms to his side. I dropped my leg and grabbed my neck by the time the shrink finished closing the distance. We exchanged glares before turning our attention to Anri.
“Are you two okay?” He pressed a bloody cloth to the side of his temple. “Maybe we should all take a seat…somewhere.” He looked around his devastated office.
I peeled my back off the wall and made my way to the couch. It was the only thing left standing, although it was askew by thirty degrees.
Tate didn’t bother sitting. He leaned over the back of the couch, threatening to invade my personal space and obviously not giving a damn what I might think about it. Anri sat at the other end. “Your boyfriend hit you against my wishes.” He eyeballed Tate before turning his focus on me again. “I don’t condone his violent solution. However, you were out of control.”
Tate snorted. “Please. She was a fucking psycho.”
Anri raised his hand to quiet the peanut gallery. “Do you know this man? Robert Gamboldt?”
I looked to Tate for a cue, but he remained too miffed to offer up a straight answer. I went with the truth. “Yes. I think he’s responsible for me losing my memory.”
“In that case, I think he did more than that.” Anri turned the cloth over and refolded it for a cleaner side. “Are you familiar with the term brainwashing or programming?”
“Only what I’ve read and seen in the movies.” The Manchurian Candidate came to mind, but why I remembered that movie and not what my family looked like, I couldn’t say. God, I hated this. It bugged me that I didn’t know what it was like to give my mother a piece of artwork to stick up on the refrigerator. Or, when I rode my first bike. When Dad kissed my first strawberry to the knee. Hell, I’d give my left arm to know when my sister and I had our first fight. What did she look like? Who was her boyfriend? Did I ever catch her kissing one? Whenever I tackled my brain for the answers, I came up with crickets. Despite avoiding my family, there was no avoiding the small part of my heart that inherently belonged to them. And yet…they were as unreal as the people on the magazine covers scattered across Dr. Anri’s floor.
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Hate didn’t begin to explain the rage inside me. Gamboldt had taken more than my memories. The bastard had taken my entire life.
“Earth to Alexa.” Tate waved a hand in front of me. When I jerked back, a smile brightened his eyes.
“You phased out a minute. Did you remember something?”
I hugged myself and shook my head. “Just thinking about the family I don’t remember. Gamboldt’s gonna pay for this.”
Dr. Anri cleared his throat. “If this Gamboldt person is real, then he’s somehow impressed his will on you. Turned you into something you’re not. He has preprogrammed you to act out in a violent way if anyone tries to undo what he’s done. In all honesty, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Like what?”
The shrink stalled as he stared at an invisible point on the floor. He stood and made his way toward his unkempt desk. “I don’t know. Or at least, I’m not sure. However, I’d like to prescribe some valium. To help you relax. Your friend said you weren’t getting enough sleep anyway. Not only that, but…”
“But what?”
“Well… Things like this sometimes have a way of making themselves known. In other words, they might seem like they’re a part of your own reality when your subconscious is sitting on the sidelines and someone else is in control. I’d like you to continue with therapy to help unravel more of this mystery. Going deeper next time might pull out more of your memories as well and…”
Something was wrong. Body language lacked a scent, but I knew uneasiness when I saw it. This guy’s shifty eyes refused to settle on mine for more than a second or two at a time. He blubbered about things that made no sense, making me question his sanity in return. Or…maybe he realized he was out of his league. I leaped off the couch and marched to his desk. He had better be lucky a piece of furniture stood between us or I’d yank his pencil neck across the top and drag him throughout this room until he told me. Then again, looking at the sight of this office, I might have already done that. I leaned over the papers and smashed desk lamp and glared at him. “Level with me, doc. What else happened that you’re not telling me?”
Anri finally lifted his head and met my eyes. “While you were under, your alter ego said something about not needing practice to put an arrow through our heads. That you had trained for it enough. I think you conspired to kill some people. Whether or not you succeeded, I don’t know. The only thing I’m sure of is that I might have to refer you to someone with more experience with this kind of thing.”
I knew it. Out of his league my ass. Unless he had a degree in supernatural psychology, there wasn’t enough therapy in the world to help my cause.
Tate pressed a comforting hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off. Enough people had touched me already. I didn’t want anymore regardless of their innocent intentions.
Marcia Colette
“What happens now?” I continued to stare, demanding answers with my eyes instead of resorting to physical violence. Again. “Am I certifiable?”
Anri found a prescription pad underneath a pile of papers. “You need more help. Certifiable?” He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the windowsill behind him as though he feared me without wanting to put on a show. “In your present state, no. When you had taken on this Robert Gamboldt persona, yes. Multiple personalities syndrome is something you don’t want to play with.”
“But you just said—”
“That’s how it looks on the surface, Ms. Wells. The strange thing is that when you take on a new persona, you don’t take on that kind of strength. It was like you had the power of two, possibly three men combined. Not only that, you referred to yourself in the third person, as though a self-centered person were using your body for their will. That’s why I’m having a hard time trying to label the exact problem. I don’t want to give you anything stronger than valium until I’m sure what the problem is.”
Someone had to tell Monica. I didn’t know if it would be me or him. Either way, I didn’t care. However, if anyone outside of Anri’s office found out about this, both he and Monica would become the next victims on my growing list.
When Tate and I left the office, Dane was nowhere to be found. He didn’t strike me as the type to take off without telling someone or leaving a note with the receptionist. Not to mention, he had gone through a lot to make contact with me and refused to leave once he had. I led the way outside onto the street only to have footfalls that didn’t belong to Tate scraping the ground behind me. He was on my left. As I turned, something pressed against my right lower rib. A dark blue SUV pulled up alongside the curb and a gray car stopped behind it. The SUV’s driver and the passenger I recognized as Garridan’s goons who had disappeared earlier. Wednesday had said she wanted to continue this elsewhere, and it looked like she meant it.
With Dane already sitting in the backseat, we joined him. Not like we had much of a choice anyway. 168
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Garridans had gone from owning multiple stores to one two-story consignment shop a couple miles away in Northern Revere called Vujo Garments. From the large front windows, we had a great view to the boardwalk and some of the small taverns and restaurants. Lean a little ways out from the building, and there were large fishing boats tied to the piers with masts jetting up at the partly cloudy sky. Each breeze brought a fishy stench that corroded my nostrils.
The guards led us up to the second floor where we shared the same view as we did from the first floor. In the corner of the room near the panoramic window was Wednesday. She sat on a chaise lounge where another woman tended to her wounded hand. Sweat beaded her forehead, plastering pieces of her blueblack hair to her face as it scrunched in agony. We made it across the room filled with clothing racks, pushing some of the garments aside.
“Glad you could come.” She winced again and pulled her hand away from the other woman. I had never seen anything like it. Her hand was that of a woman at least four times her age. Red veins looked more like welts underneath the skin. Blisters pulsed on the back of it and near the fingertips. When she flipped over her hand, red cuts oozed blood from her palm. Trembling, she used her injured hand to point Tate to the chair across from her. She forced a smile to her lips. “Sorry I had to leave like that. It was a battle of wills where more explosions were bound to happen.” She turned her hand over to Tate. “As you can see, I lost. With all of the supernaturals on Robert’s payroll, he has many eyes and ears across the city.” Wednesday motioned around the room. “This place is protected by Roma magic and has been for the last thirty years. Robert knows this, so I don’t know how long it’ll last. I’m sure he senses treachery in the ranks.”
“And that would be…?” Dane shrugged.
She spied him. “Who is this? Your friend, I recall seeing at the bar. Even had him checked out before allowing you both to come. But this gentleman, I don’t know him. There had better be a good reason why he’s here.”
I put on my best cheesy smile and stepped in front of Dane. “This is another friend of mine. He’s harmless.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Since when are werewolves harmless?” Wednesday winced and snatched her hand back from Tate. “You asked me about earth magic back at the bar. There are many forms of it. The Marcia Colette
best I know of are the wise women and witches. Wise women are a little harder to find. Not the case with witches, and I’m not talking Salem. There’s a coven west of Boston.”
“Where exactly?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. They move it all the time. But they’re also like sentinels. In fact, I’m surprised they haven’t made contact with you.”
I glanced around. This was no time to keep my mouth shut, since I seemed to be the only one in the room with knowledge in that area. “There was one. Her name’s Pippa and she’s a lab tech. When I went to the hospital—”
“That’ll work.”
I arched my eyebrow to acknowledge her rudeness. “When I went to the hospital, she followed me. Said I shouldn’t have come and let them take my blood. At the time I didn’t know what I was or I would’ve stayed away.” On that last note, I glared at Dane. After what had happened with Dr. Anri, he probably had another warning about hospitals and the dangers they posed. That reprimand would have to wait. “Anyway, I don’t know how to reach her nor do I know where to begin.”
Wednesday fought through a wince to speak. “There are sixty-seven Garridans around Boston and we have connections with other clans. While I can’t promise anything because there are still a few Robert supporters among our ranks, I can start asking. It’s the least I can do since you might be the only one who can put Gamboldt down.”
I shook my head. “I’m nobody’s hero. I’m just trying to get control of my life. I don’t like some stranger holding the reins in their hands.”
That’s exactly what Gamboldt was doing and I didn’t like it. Who knew where and when his hunger for power would stop? After all, he didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by my half-werewolf status. Next thing you knew, he’d strike out on his own to control a full blood. If he succeeded there, Parry would probably be his next target. Switching the control of the Boston Pack from one maniac to another would only make things worse. Especially for Matt.
I closed my eyes to block the memory from coming through, but that didn’t stop another idea from forming. One that kept slipping my mind. “How did Robert know about me? Did your Aunt Tatiana sense something about my skills?”
She shrugged. “Not that I know of. Her powers are good for sensing what kind of supernatural a person is. But even with that, it’s not a hundred percent accurate or she’d know what Robert was by now. We don’t. Even Uncle Cam doesn’t. All he knows is that the man has a very charismatic way with people.”
“Great, the guy just lucked out on my being a marksman.”
Dane folded his arms and shook his head. “That’s the thing. Only a few of us know that. I was the one who trained you. Your uncle helped too, but that’s it. Your parents didn’t like it at all. What about Flora and Charles? Could they have known?”
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Perhaps, but he’d said something that bothered the hell out of me. If only Dane and my family knew about my archery skills, was it possible that Robert might have already gotten to them too? I closed my eyes forcing those thoughts from my head. I didn’t want to think about that monster having his hands on anyone in my family. Whether I knew them or not, they were mine, dammit. I’d gladly kill the bastard if he breathed in their direction. Knowing what I knew now, thank goodness Dane had taken it upon himself to put my loved ones in hiding. It was more reason to stop Gamboldt permanently.
“Headache again?” I opened my eyes to see Wednesday addressing me. “You shouldn’t be feeling anything. There’s a stronger protection spell around this place than the one I used around myself at the bar. If you feel—”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. Just thinking about my family.”
“That’s makes two of us.” Dane gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Wednesday slumped back in her chair. “If they’re anything like you, he might be trying to find them. You should warn them.”
“Believe me, they’ve already been warned.” Dane began walking around the second floor, checking out some of the antique furniture and the pictures on the wall. “His mind-control powers have already been established. What bothers me is how he’s able to control a half wolf, but not a full blood. At least, none that I know of. Tate would’ve said something by now, I’m sure.” He plucked a large painting off the wall and stared at it.
Tate nodded. “Good point.”
Wednesday frowned. “Robert can’t control everyone and he knows it. Why do you think the entire vampire world hasn’t fallen under his spell? Or the werewolves haven’t bowed down to do his bidding. Parry doesn’t like him, but he respects him. Nobody knows what Robert’s capable of. We might be sitting in our car when he commands someone to shoot us at the stoplight.”
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.” Dozens of questions mixed with worry and excitement clogged my brain. “Parry knows about this guy? The fucking Boston Pack Alpha?”
Until now, I hadn’t thought Parry had anything to do with my nightmare. Given my circumstances, I didn’t have that luxury anymore. Holy shit. It made sense Gamboldt would only go after me and not Matt. If the Roma had marked him, the bastard would automatically toss him out because he was a full blood and most likely one of Parry’s people. Since everyone knew about Parry’s disgusting disposition, Gamboldt probably had me pegged as a stray.
It wasn’t that the madman lacked the power to control the werewolves but could’ve struck a deal to leave them alone. As long as nobody touched Parry’s precious pack, that fucker was set. If Gamboldt got his hands on me again, he wouldn’t let go. Given the supernatural population in Boston, who knew where that mind-controlling monster would stop?
Wednesday nodded. “They were once seen shaking hands outside. After one of our auctions.”
Marcia Colette
“Parry might know how to find Gamboldt.” I could’ve pissed a kidney for not thinking about this sooner.
Dane put the picture down to rejoin us. “Yeah, but if it doesn’t benefit him in some way, he might not give a damn.”
“We’re gonna find out.” Tate handed the gauze to Dane and leaped out of his seat. Before leaving the room, he had unclipped his phone and placed a call.
Dane took Tate’s seat and began wrapping Wednesday’s hand. He did it with the care and skill of a man who looked like he had done it at least a dozen times prior. When all of this was over, I’d have to ask him where he’d acquired his skills.