Page 13 (1/2)

25

I pulled into the lot of the apart with its secret hospital in the baseainst the wind The sky was grey, caught between darkness and light That treet your throat ripped out moments from sunrise

A taxi drew up in front of the building A tall wo a very short skirt and a leather jacket, no shoes Zane got out next Someone had paid his bail, and it wasn&039;t me Which meant he had been in the Beast Master&039;s tender care Just luck that he hadn&039;t been part of Sylvie&039;s torment If he&039;d refused, he&039;d have been hurt worse than he appeared to be If he&039;d done it, I&039;d have had to kill him That would have been da towards the coat and its weaponry back on Zane waved tobut shiny black vinyl pants, tight enough to be skin, and boots Oh, and a nipple ring Mustn&039;t forget the jewelry

The tall woman stared at me She didn&039;t look happy to see me Not hostile exactly, but not pleased The driver said soot a wad of bills out of her jacket pocket and paid him

The taxi drove away Vivian, the Beast Master&039;s pet while he stayed here, hadn&039;t gotten out Gregory, Stephen&039;s brother with his new conscience, hadn&039;t gotten out either I was short at least tereleopards What was going on?

Zane walked towards me like ere old friends "I told you, Cherry, she&039;s our alpha, our leoparde lionne I knew she&039;d save us" He dropped to his knees in front of , so he had to settle for h ti alpha was a touchie-feelie sort of thing Like the animals they sometimes were, shapeshifters seeht it, but I did let the safety off the Browning

Zane took ainst my knuckles, then rolled his face froave one slow lick to the back of ently withdrew it It took a lot of willpower not to wipe my hand on the coat

The tall woman, Cherry I presumed, just looked at me "She didn&039;t save all of us" Her voice was an al low contralto It purred, even in huory?" I asked

She pointed back the way they&039;d come "Back there, they&039;re still back there"

"The deal was that all ot out"

Zane bounced to his feet The ht uard to trigger I set the safety on the Browning and easedto hurt ger I un My nerves were usually better than this

"The Master of Beasts said that anyone ished to acknowledge your dominance could leave, if they could walk out But he&039;d already ory and Vivian couldn&039;t walk"

Soht filled my stomach "What do you mean?"

"Vivian was unconscious e left" Cherry looked at the ground when she spoke the next words "Gregory tried to crawl after us, but he was hurt too badly" She raised her eyes, and there were tears tre in theed us not to leave hiry swipe of her hand "But I left hi, because I wanted out of theremy friends to be tortured and killed and raped" She hid her face with both her hands and cried

Zane caed her "Gabriel could never keep us all safe either She did her best"

"Like hell," I said

Zane looked at ainst the side of Cherry&039;s neck, but his eyes were serious He was glad to be alive, but he hadn&039;t wanted to leave the toand after a few seconds they followed me I used the same phone I&039;d called Jean-Claude on earlier I only had moments before true dawn, and he would be down for the count

He answered the phone like he&039;d been expecting the call "Oui, ory and Vivian didn&039;t otiated for theree, but he set up one rule, that whoever wished to leave had to walk out I knehat he ain I could make Please believe that"

"Fine, but I won&039;t leave them If they can split hairs this finely, so can we"

"What do you plan,back and help the out under their oer, did he?"

"No" Jean-Claude gave a long sigh "Dawn is frightfully near, , wait at least two hours Tih for even the er I do not kno much sleep the council members need They may awaken very early"

"I&039;ll wait two hours"

"I will send some of the wolves to you With Padma asleep they will be useful to you"

"Fine"

"I o" The phone went dead, and I felt the sun burst above the horizon I felt it like a great weight, and for just an instant I couldn&039;t breathe, one, and I knew that Jean-Claude was gone for the day Even with three sharedlike that before I knew he protected s that the third mark would let me feel He even protected Richard Of the three of us, Jean-Claude knew more about the marks, how to use them, how not to use them, and what they really meant Months into it all, and I hadn&039;t asked many questions Sometimes, I wasn&039;t sure I wanted to know Richard see to Jean-Claude The vampire just seemed patient with us, like a parent with a backward child

Cherry leaned against the wall, ar under the leather jacket Her eyes were cautious, like she&039;d been disappointed often and badly

"You&039;re going in after theainst the wall "Because she&039;s our alpha"

Cherry shook her head "Why would you risk yourself for two people you don&039;t know? I accepted your dominance because I wanted out of there, but I don&039;t believe it Why would you go back in there?"

I wasn&039;t sure how to explain it "They expect me to save theoing to try"

"Why?"

I sighed "Because because I re eyes and the bruises on her body Because Gregory cried and screamed for you not to leave him Because Padma will hurt them worse now than he would have before, because he thinks that by hurting the to find a bed for a couple of hours I suggest you do the sa is strictly volunteer"

"I don&039;t want to go back there," she said

"Then don&039;t," I said

"I&039;ll come," Zane said

It almost made me smile "Somehow I knew you would"

26

I lay in the narrow hospital bed in one of the spare roo dress was folded on the room&039;s only chair The chair was shoved up under the doorknob Flimsy lock The chair wouldn&039;t keep out soive me a few seconds to aim I&039;d showered and thrown the blood-soaked hose away I earing just own I fell asleep in a strange bed with sheets clutched to my naked breasts, and the Firestar under un was under the bed I didn&039;t think I&039;d need it, but where else was I going to stash it?

I was drea lost in an abandoned house, searching for kittens The kittens were crying, and there were snakes in the dark, eating the kittens You didn&039;t have to be Freud to interpret this one The ht that clearly, that it was a dream and what it meant, the drea upwards, sheets spilled down my body so that I was nearly nude in the blackness

I could feela race in

I pulled the sheet up over h I wasn&039;t cold As a child I&039;d thought that the et htmare I still reached for the sheet, no matter how hot it was Of course, I was in a base It wasn&039;t hot So why did my body feel alot the Firestar out I felt better with it gripped into feel silly

I sat in the dark and strained to hear anything before I hit the lights If there was soht under the door If they were trying to aht Not yet

I felt soy, heat, that played overtowards ht in the room I clicked the safety off on the Firestar, and suddenly kneho it was It was Richard Richard striding towards ry storm

I clicked the safety back on but didn&039;t put up the gun He was mad I could feel it I&039;d seen hi-size bed around like it was nothing when he was angry I&039;d keep the gun, just in case I didn&039;t like keeping it, but the h to put it away I hit the lights I sat blinking in the sudden brightness, a hard knot for in my stomach I did not want to see hiht I&039;d first slept with Jean-Claude The night I&039;d run froht of the full ht of his beast

I padded barefoot to the chair and gathered un beside me on the bed, when I smelled his after-shave I felt the airthe currents of air His aftershave wasn&039;t that strong I shouldn&039;t have smelled it I knew suddenly as if it had been whispered in h the door, that he knew I&039;d worn Oscar de la Renta parfuertips press to either side of the door in a small push up motion, felt him draw a breath and scenton? We&039;d been bound for twolike this, not with Richard, and not with Jean-Claude

Richard&039;s voice, achingly faer was in his voice; in his body, rage He was like thunder pressed against the door

"I&039; dressed," I said

I heard him pace in front of the door "I know I can feel you in there What&039;s happening to us?"

That was a loaded question if ever I&039;d heard one I ondering if he could feel o "We haven&039;t been this close at dawn since ere bound Jean-Claude isn&039;t here to act as a buffer" I hoped that was it The only alternative I could think of was that the council had done soh But ouldn&039;t know for sure until we could ask Jean-Claude Damn

Richard tried the door handle "What&039;s taking so long?"

"I&039;m almost done," I said I slipped the dress on It was actually the easiest piece of clothing to get into The shoes were not comfortable without hose, but I would have felt even less prepared barefoot Can&039;t explain it, but shoes make me feel better I moved the chair and unlocked the door I stepped back, a little too quick, until I was on the far side of the rooun I didn&039;t think he&039;d hurt er was like a burning knot in ut

He opened the door carefully, as if he was having to think before each e and me

He was six foot one, broad-shouldered, with high-sculpted cheekbones, and a wide soft ether too handsome His eyes were still perfect chocolate brown; only the pain in them was new His hair fell in thick waves around his shoulders, a brown so full of gold and copper highlights that there should have been a different word for it Brown is a dull word, and his hair was not dull I&039;d loved runningfistfuls of it e kissed

He earing a blood-red tank top that left his muscular shoulders and arms bare I knew that every inch of him you could see, and what you could not, was tanned a nice soft brown But it wasn&039;t really tanned, just his natural skin color

My heart was beating in my throat, but it wasn&039;t fear He stared at me in the black dress Face scrubbed clean of ht of me I felt it like a twist inat his jeans to see if what I was feeling was visible

When I opened my eyes, he hadn&039;t moved He just stood there in thea little too hard His eyes ild, showing too much white like a horse about to bolt

I found my voice first "You said you wanted to talk, so talk" I sounded breathless It was like I could feel Richard&039;s heart, his chest rising and falling, like it was my own I&039;d had moments of this with Jean-Claude, but never with Richard If we&039;d still been seeing each other, it would have been intriguing Now, it was just confusing

He relaxed his hands, flexing the not tous fro too close until ere ready I didn&039;t believe him, until now"

I nodded "It&039;s aard"

He ser out of his eyes "Aard? Is that all it is to you, Anita? Just aard?"

"You can feel what I&039;ht now, Richard Answer your own damn question"