by C. T. Adams
She smiled, that baring of white teeth that fit so well with the oranges and hot tea. Her eyes glowed again.
“Jessica, you will soon have a visitor. A friend will need your help, but there will be danger involved. You must face this danger, but cautiously. Do not be reckless in your acceptance of the task. You will face jealousy and hate. You may mistake this for justification, but know that it is a lie and keep up your defenses. This is your mission alone, apart from your mate. He will have his own trials, but use his inner strength and judgment as your own. You must be strong of heart and body. Carry teeth and claws with you because you have none of your own.”
“Whoa, whoa.” I said, as bats started clawing in my gut. “What do you mean? Sue will be in danger but I can’t help? The hell you say! No way. I’m not going to let her face danger without me.” I’d only had her back for a day after coming so very close to losing her altogether. I wasn’t letting her out of my sight ever again. I glanced at Sue, but her face was unreadable. Her scent was an odd mix that I couldn’t sort through the aroma of black tea.
“You will have little choice, Anton. You, too, will be consumed by future events. Yours is an uncertain path. For the first time in your young life, you must avoid your impulsive nature. There are plans within plans. You must investigate that which you have been tasked. Be wary of the simple answer. There are no simple answers. Those you have trusted may fail you—not to intentionally harm you, but to fulfill their own destinies. When the truth finds you, others will not understand and only a few will follow. This is a time of growth, but you will must deal with it alone. Do not even trust the opinion of your mate, for she will use human values to judge. You must use the mind of a hunter. It is who you are.”
A chill ran up my spine. A woman I’d just met had described me, and the job I’d been set on—but it had happened miles away. She couldn’t possibly have known.
“You will be aided in your hunt by two new talents. You will have the ability to see what has been, as clearly as if you had participated. This is known to us as hindsight.”
I couldn’t help spitting out a laugh.
Her chin dropped and she stared at me coldly. “Do not mock me, or you will not learn the nature of your gift. It is a rare talent that I have never seen in one so young. Such a gift usually comes only to the truly introspective, which it is obvious you are not!”
Actually, I am very introspective, but this was just starting to get silly. “Yeah, I know. ‘Hindsight is 20/20.’ Cute joke.”
Her back stiffened in outrage. “I never make light of seer gifts, Anton! You will become the memory. You will live it through the person who experienced it. You will hear it, feel it—smell what they smelted, see through their eyes. But lies can seem to be truth, so be cautious! As to your other gift, it eludes even my best efforts, but it is a gift of equal or greater value, so do not dismiss the value lightly, no more than you would stand without shielding in a room of enemies.”
The force of her words made me wonder about the image of the girl in the woods. Had it been the Duchess?
“And, now I know the cause of your headaches, and will put a stop to it immediately.” I gasped as I felt something like a clap of thunder with no sound. It roared through my head and exited through my heart. Sue felt it, too. She swayed and nearly fell to the floor. All the colors of the rainbow filled my mind in a burst of blinding light. The connection to Sue that had been so faint since she arrived here roared back to life. I could feel her heart beating, see through her eyes, hear her thoughts.
“What the hell did you do?”
“You are not alphic, Anton. You cannot be both pack and mate. The connection that bound you to our pack was diminishing your mating and causing you both to pine. That’s what the pain was. Jessica will not survive if you remain with the pack. Since you are not yet strong enough to withstand Nikoli’s magic, I have intervened. To survive with your mate, you must remain separate from the pack. But now that you have known a pack, that too may cause you pain. This will be your cross to bear. I am sorry. In time, you may grow stronger and be able to rejoin the mind and heart of the pack. You will be welcome if that comes to pass. Of course, you will remain here in Chicago with us and we will keep you fed. You will just not share the comforts of the group mind.”
She stood abruptly and brushed off her dark skirt with sharp flicks of her hands. Her voice held icy cold anger when she spoke. “I will inform Nikoli that he may not reclaim your mind, Anton. My son should have sensed your bond. If he did, and ignored it…” She let the statement hang for a moment, and then continued, “In my time, to break a mating bond was a death sentence. While it is no longer so, it is dangerous to you and I will not allow it.”
I winced as she said that name for the fourth time. “Any chance that someone in your family might call me Tony? ‘Anton’ is really getting on my nerves.”
The anger fell away. Her smile flashed brightly and the scent of oranges filled the room. Her eyes sparkled with the same youth as I saw in the dream. “If you do something else to impress me, perhaps I will, Anton.”
Is that all it took? Fine with me. “Okay, let me impress you. You lied to me, Lelya.”
Her back straightened like a rod had been jammed down her shirt. Burning coffee, burned metal, and hot and sour soup assaulted my nose from the sudden outrage. “How dare you! I have assisted you, healed your mate, and you believe you may address me with familiarity and make accusations?”
I shook my head and smiled darkly. I wouldn’t back down. She wanted impressed—she was going to get it.
Sue looked confused. Embarrassment heated her cheeks and then rose from her in a cloud of scent. She was about to open her mouth to reprimand me, but I spoke before she could. I guess she hadn’t caught the little movie in my head or she wouldn’t wonder about my statement. “You said your father never tried to kill you. You lied. You ran from his hunting party into the woods, bleeding from a silver knife wound to your thigh.”
Her pale face went even whiter, eventually turning a dishwater grey. Her eyes were wide and tears sparkled at the corners. All that remained of the previous scents was fear. It was strong enough to make my jaw tighten. “How…my strongest shields were in place. How can that be?”
“Your mother found you and convinced you to accept your Sazi nature. You threw off a fur cloak and turned into a silver grey wolf before the lynching party arrived. But you tried to play human, didn’t you, Lelya? You wanted to, but you were rejected. You still carry the scar. That’s why you wear long skirts. That’s why you let your son lead the pack. You don’t even hunt with the pack to protect your secret. You are ashamed of your own kind. You hate that there is a wolf inside you.”
Call me not introspective enough, will she—part of the last was supposition, but I could tell I hit the nail on the head. I hadn’t seen her at the hunt, and Nikoli was a puppy compared to power. I’d felt them both.
Sue looked at me with something approaching awe. I could see it from the corner of my eye, but my gaze was locked on the Duchess. Surprise, disbelief and embarrassment rose from the older woman to join her own scent. They blended quite nicely. Sort of hot tea with milk on the stove. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm. She didn’t speak until she’d reclaimed her usual serenity.
“You have more depth than I expected, Tony. You have great insight and gifts that should be explored. You have impressed me today. I would ask you not to reveal my secret, but that is not my choice. You may need to use the knowledge. I am not certain how you gained it, but few things happen without reason in our world. Perhaps it is time for curtains to be drawn on long-darkened rooms. It may be that my past will soon be known—or used against me. But you must not think of my wishes. You must think only of the hunt, because your task affects the future of all Sazi.”
Her words took me by surprise. I was hunting a kidnapper, not taking a ring to a volcano. I cleared my throat as I tried to recover quickly.
“I wouldn’t tel
l without a very good reason. I wouldn’t risk losing your good graces. I get the feeling I’m going to need every friend I have for this job. And I kind of understand how you feel. I’m wasn’t real enthusiastic about losing my humanity, either.” I smiled at her, and she caught the look of dark humor. “I’m pretty good at keeping secrets. Plans within plans—remember, Duchess?”
She regarded me for a moment, and her scent was a blend of everything that I knew, and a bunch I didn’t. She ended up smiling as she reached for a black shawl with brightly colored embroidered designs. She held her head high and regarded us both. Then she nodded.
“You two may call me Lelya. Yes—I believe I would like that. I look forward to speaking with you both more. Perhaps we can all learn things.”
“Do you want help carrying your samovar to your car?”
She looked at it with affection and then shook her head. “No. It is a gift to you. It is a fitting…how do you call it?…housewarming gift for you both. I only request to drop by for a cup of zavarka, and some conversation, from time to time.”
Sue’s whole face lit up. “Oh, I’d like that. I just got here and haven’t had a chance to meet anyone yet.”
“Then you will meet my granddaughter. She is close to your age, and human so far. Her name is Veronica, but we call her Nika.”
Sue remained inside to clean up the cups. I offered Lelya my arm, and we descended the stairs to the snowy street. As soon as we got outside, I realized that her scent actually was tea, blended with sugar and cream. She didn’t seem to need my help to walk. Her movements were smooth and youthful. As she closed the car door and started the engine of the shiny new Cadillac, I had to ask. I leaned in the window so that nobody else would hear the question. “So, Lelya, is this all an illusion? You seem pretty spry for your looks. Are you actually still that stunning girl of sixteen?”
Her laugh filled the car with sparkling sound. “That will remain my secret, young Tony. But thank you for the compliment. I wasn’t considered stunning at the time. I was very ordinary.”
“You will never be ordinary, Lelya.” I made sure my eyes and my scent reflected the truth of the words.
A burst of tea became orange pekoe. “I see why you have survived this long, Tony. Human or Sazi—we are all quite vain.”
My eyes were sparkling as I pulled back from the car. “The trick is to believe what you say.” I paused for effect. “Isn’t it, Lelya?”
Her laughter was ringing in my ears as the car pulled away from the curb.
Chapter 10
I CLIMBED UP the front stairs and felt my senses heighten for the first time in weeks. It was as if I’d had a head cold and could suddenly breathe. A blast of frigid air chased me in the front door. I was suddenly acutely…aware. Everything looked different. It was as though the chair, the lamp, every leaf on every plant, was somehow drawn in four dimensions. The scent of each item was visible in the air, rising above like tinted phantoms. The colors were as vivid as a Van Gogh. Was this the new talent Lelya had spoken of and, if so, what purpose did it serve?
My first stop would be the bathroom. The shower would wait, but I was definitely brushing my teeth and flossing. I wanted to greet my wife properly, and I figure wolf breath isn’t the world’s biggest turn-on. The cinnamon toothpaste glowed nearly florescent and the taste burned fire hot to my heightened senses, nearly bringing tears to my eyes.
I stepped out of the bathroom and walked through the house in awe, noting small changes Sue had made since she’d arrived. A brightly colored rag rug had been placed under the coffee table. The smoked-glass top both muted and electrified the colors. A vigorous wandering jew plant in full bloom billowed over a yellow ceramic pot on a stand in the corner. A trio of nesting dolls rested side by side on the mantle of the gas fireplace. Some scattered knick-knacks perched on a small corner shelf unit. And Sue’s purse hung over a chair back. They were little touches that turned the stark, newly-bought furniture into a home.
I stopped in front of a large painting on the wall. Something about it…I couldn’t quite place why it seemed so familiar.
“Do you like it?” Sue was standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a smile on her face. The light jingling of her silver charm bracelet sounded like peals of chimes. Little rabbits and bells, plus one lone wolf. “I was pretty sure that it was the same print that I saw in your den. You said your dad gave it to you. It’s a different frame, but I think it looks nice on that wall.”
I looked again when she spoke. The mallard ducks exploded out of the water next to a fallen tree, and the fall sun shone brightly in a deep blue sky. The rich blues and greys of the water, plus the Ducks Unlimited emblem, should have given it away immediately. “It is the same one. Where did you get it?”
She moved into the room, and I could hear the gentle squeak of the floorboards as she walked. A pale green glow surrounded her. “In a gallery in Boulder. There wasn’t much else to do but shop when I wasn’t in classes or at appointments with Dr. Perdue. Lucas gave me some money for traveling, but I didn’t need it all because Bobby drove me back. Good thing, too. The print cost most everything I had.”
She stepped right in front of me and touched my arm. “But I know you had to give everything up when you came here to be with me. I wanted you to have something nice—something familiar.”
“It is nice. Thank you.” My voice was deep and sincere. She blushed and lowered her eyes and her hand at the same time. There it was again—that thoughtfulness she’d displayed when we’d first met. It reminded me why I liked her. The lust and need for her that I feel is something strange and supernatural, but her personality and humor attract me to her in a very human way.
I closed my eyes and inhaled. Her scent struck me like a brick to the head. Warm, ripe fruit, bursting in the sun; the clean, strong odor of newly turned soil; fresh, water drenched leaves, and flowers on the wind. The scent of a forest in summer. Heady—powerful enough to drown in. I brought a hand up and lightly ruffled the edge of the colored band around her, less than an inch from her skin.
Sue shuddered and goosebumps appeared on her skin. She raised her eyes to look at me in surprise. I caught a new scent. Pine trees, covered with ice; ozone-enriched air, scrubbed clean of all impurities, and the rich, musky scent of warm fur.
“That’s you,” she whispered. “You smell like the mountains just after a snow. It’s cold and biting and wakes your senses. I’d never noticed. And I’ve never smelled flowers before. It’s like a garden in the trees. Is that me?”
I nodded my head. “We haven’t been together since we fully bonded. I think it’s only the beginning of what’s going to happen.” I knew it was true the moment the words left my mouth.
She shook her head, and I could feel the brush of hair on my own neck as she did. The sensation was like a live wire attached to my groin. Once upon a time, the sensation had frightened me. But the shudder passing through me now had nothing to do with fear.
“That’s not true,” she said, and the slight scent of disbelief soured milk, rose from her. “We were bonded the whole time we were on the island with Carmine and Linda. It was never like this. I can see things, Tony—since you walked in the door just now. There are colors in the air. You’re surrounded by a silver haze. I can see scents and…” A small edge of fear settled into her green eyes. Her words dropped to a whisper. “What’s happening to us?”
My voice was a whisper as well, and I could feel my eyes start to glow. The sun was on the downswing, the moon waited in the wings. “Magic’s happening, Sue. We haven’t been together since the bonding.”
My voice rose slightly and my tone was patient and warm. “When we were on the island, Betty was acting like a shield between us because of your injuries. She said if you died, I would go with you without the shield. And, you wouldn’t have been able to stand my changing with the hunt while you were recovering. She kept up the shield while you were in Boulder so you could go through training and therapy, and then I connected to t
he pack here in Chicago. When Lelya removed the connection, it became just the two of us.”
Her voice was awestruck. “So this really is the first time we’ve been together. Will it get worse?”
I chuckled and reached up a hand to stroke her hair, appreciating the silky thickness and rich auburn color as it flowed through my fingers. She was frozen, unable to move through the sensation. She was feeling my hand on her scalp, and her hair in my hand—just like I was. It was an amazing feeling. “You say worse like it feels bad. It doesn’t, does it?”
“I mean…I don’t know what…”
I moved a fraction closer and fell into her deep green eyes. “Just kiss me, Sue. Let it all happen. Today we’ll go places we’ve never been. Just think of it as our wedding night.”
I pulled her against me and felt a jolt of electricity that nearly chased coherent thought from my brain. My mouth hovered over hers, waiting for her to make the first move. She gasped as my arms tightened around her and she reached up to seal our lips together. Power flowed and danced over our skin as we tasted each other.
My tongue explored her teeth, the roof of her mouth and under her tongue with almost frantic need. Her fingers reached up to slide through my hair. I groaned and traced my hands down the curves of her body. I lifted her hips until her legs wrapped around my waist as I moved back from the kiss. I couldn’t resist the scent of her; that overpowering, seductive aroma. My nose soaked in the fragrance, stronger here along her neck, and I didn’t fight the urge to press my lips to her neck. I pulled blood to the surface of her skin and then moved back to watch the red mark appear before I kissed her again.
I carried her down the hallway, her legs still twined around me, reveling in our mouths touching each other.
I set her down and stepped back for a moment. She was starting to remove her shirt when I stopped her.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” I said in a husky voice. “Let me savor it. I want to undress you—slowly.”