Puma

by Jorrie Spencer

  “I did not fool you, Dev.”

  He moved, abruptly, grabbing her, both her arms in his grip, his embrace a mirror of hers, much less gentle but not bruising. He spoke through clenched teeth. “What the fuck is going on here?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. You have to help me.” She moved her hand to rub the side of his neck, and they were both breathing hard, Dev for his own terrible reasons, and Callie because she found the sensation of being touched by Dev so intense.

  “What are you?” he demanded. “Why can you ignore Scott?”

  She had to answer the question. To evade would raise all Dev’s suspicions to too high a pitch. And yet, what an answer. “I’m a cougar.” At his what-the-fuck expression, she amended, “Sometimes.”

  “A cougar likes sex, Callie!”

  “What?” Puma didn’t like sex at all. Mostly because there were no fellow cat shifters to have sex with. But still.

  He gave her a sharp shake. “You make no fucking sense.”

  “Well, neither do you.” It sounded childish, she knew, but he looked so furious, when he was the one who came out with cryptic, repetitive phrases.

  God, what a pair the two of them made.

  Then his anger seemed to bank, sat there in his eyes, focusing on her as he made a decision.

  “What?” she asked again.

  His hands skimmed up her arms, to her shoulders, neck, jaw, cheeks. Holding her face, he tilted her head to the right as if examining a strange new phenomenon. One hand slid back to anchor in her hair and she shivered, feeling awkward and exhilarated by his attention, though this was neither the time nor place.

  His mouth came down on hers.

  She stiffened right up, not sure how to respond as he entered her, tongue sweeping into her mouth, demanding…demanding what? He groaned, his hand fisting her hair and tilting her head back as he rose on his knees above her, forcing her to lean back in their embrace. Her brain couldn’t catch up as his thumb stroked the side of her neck and his kiss gentled while he explored her mouth and coaxed her tongue to respond. She relaxed a little. Though she usually didn’t like kissing, she liked Dev and this was so unexpected.

  “Why the hell are you two making out?” Ruth stood over them, sounding furious.

  Dev tamped down on the kiss, withdrawing, though he caught her bottom lip between his teeth before he let go, his gaze on hers, molten, no longer angry, but something just as intense.

  “You’re not a cougar,” he repeated, “not that you’re old enough anyway. God, who calls themselves cougars anyway?” This last question seemed to be muttered to himself.

  “Puma then,” said Callie in an attempt to clarify. For him to understand, she’d have to shift before his eyes, but he might not want to understand.

  “No one calls themselves cougars.” Dev seemed stuck on this point.

  “Well there aren’t very many of us.” Callie was trying not to get offended. “I’m probably the first you’ve met.”

  “Callie,” said Ruth impatiently, “has this thing for big cats. She used to watch videos all the time and sometimes pretended she was one, prowl around the house. Very odd.”

  Dev gave his head a hard shake, released his hold on Callie, and rose. She’d liked his hands on her, even his mouth on her, unexpected as it had been. Their gazes locked, she brought fingers to her hot lips and Dev watched her, eyes smoldering. Then he wrenched his gaze away and focused on her sister.

  “Uh, Ruth, an obsession with big cats sounds pretty benign as things go. And you know how fucked things can get.” He scrubbed his face, then stood, appearing less edgy than he had ten minutes ago.

  Ruth grabbed Dev and he allowed it, though Callie could see he wanted Ruth to release him. “We need to free Scott, Dev. You of all people understand we do. You’re loyal, Dev, I know it.”

  Callie scrambled to her feet.

  “Do you want to go to him now, Ruth? Do you really?” Dev asked. A look of distaste passed over her features as she nodded. “I don’t think you do. And I, I just can’t. I need a break.”

  “It’s our duty.”

  “Says who?” demanded Callie.

  “It just is.” Ruth frowned. “You have to take the good with the bad.”

  God, did Scott like these little homilies? Was he the source of them? “Do you think Scott controls you, Ruth?” Callie asked softly.

  “No. Not me.” Ruth raised her palm and slashed it through the air to emphasize her point. Then she added, ill at ease, “Dev, maybe. But only because Scott cares.”

  “Uh-huh. Scott is hurting you both. I can see it,” said Callie.

  Ruth scoffed, but she still hadn’t moved away from the kitchen, had yet to try to save Scott despite all her talk. Callie thought that ultimately Ruth didn’t want to. So maybe this mind control was a bit hit and miss. Or maybe Scott wasn’t all that good. Or maybe…well, who the fuck knows. This was all so new to her.

  “Ruth, I think you wanted me to come visit to get you away from Scott, even if he’s so messed with your head you can’t admit it. Remember that email you sent me? You wrote that Scott made you nervous.”

  Ruth just shrugged off Callie’s comments irritably.

  “Why not you, Callie?” Dev stared down at the table, avoiding her gaze again, his voice a bare murmur. “Why can’t he influence you?”

  “I don’t know,” Callie admitted. “He speaks to me as if he expects me to do what he wants. So I did, sometimes, just to go along and try to understand what was going on.”

  “You never felt you should?” Ruth was quite struck by Callie shaking her head. “But Scott always has the best ideas.”

  Callie sighed. “How long have you known Scott, Dev?”

  “I don’t know. Years. Or maybe he told me years.” He grimaced. “I can’t keep things straight, you see.”

  She wanted to lean into him, but it would have been an awkward action and his body language, despite that kiss, had returned to don’t touch me. His arms were crossed, his shoulders stiff.

  “I’ve got to talk to Scott.” Callie recoiled from the idea; she found the way he used words abhorrent. Yet in the end, he might be a better source of information than either Ruth or Dev. “What are you two going to do?”

  “I need to get outside.” Dev jabbed a thumb backwards towards the den where Madison sat. “Poor Mad needs an outing too.”

  “Will you leave? Now that I’ve tied up Scott?” asked Callie. Maybe he’d run. She might, if she were in his shoes. The idea of not seeing Dev filled her with dismay, even if she wanted him to get away from Scott. Maybe she could track Dev later. Trey might help her. He had unusual resources. All this ran through her mind while Dev was slowly shaking his head.

  “I don’t think I can,” he muttered, before turning away and going into the den.

  “Why can’t he leave?” Callie asked Ruth. “Can you?”

  “This is our house. We never leave it.” That slight lack of inflection indicated these were Scott’s words. Okay, so Scott could create some long-term behavior. Perhaps he’d worked harder on this stay-at-the-house behavior than that of Dev and Ruth protecting Scott. Perhaps Scott hadn’t thought he’d ever need to be protected, given his powers. He certainly hadn’t counted on a puma’s arrival, Callie thought a little grimly.

  “I’m going upstairs.” Callie took in a fortifying breath and stalked down the hall.

  Scott would be waiting for her, but what he would say, she couldn’t begin to guess.

  Chapter Ten

  Callie pushed the door open, wincing at the sight of Scott handcuffed to the bed. He’d pulled himself up into a ball, and the position made him look very young.

  He wasn’t even Ruth’s age. Rather plain looking, usually. Now a bruise was forming on his temple, and his eyes were blazing at her. It wasn’t simply anger, though the anger was there. He was definitely frightened. Cornered.

  Well, if she were clamped to a bed, she’d feel cornered too. The puma in her hated being re
strained. But Scott was not a shifter, he was something else entirely.

  He raised his chin, defiant in his helplessness. “You think you can take over. Maybe you’re right. I’ve never claimed to be one of the strongest.” He swallowed after that admission. “If you were really strong you sure as hell wouldn’t need to handcuff me.” He rattled his right hand for effect.

  “No?” Was she supposed to feel challenged by that statement?

  At that apparently feeble response, Scott cast her a look of contempt. “Don’t you take some pride in your words?”

  “Not usually, if you must know.”

  He blinked, momentarily thrown off stride by her response. Then he marshaled his contempt again. “Max and Eleanor will come, and they will ruin you all.”

  Cheery stuff, thought Callie, noting the slight tremor in Scott’s voice. “Max? Eleanor?” she asked so he would elaborate.

  “I hope you’re playing dumb, because Eleanor is going to shred you. She doesn’t take kindly to interlopers.” Callie’s bafflement must have shown, because Scott added, “Most pod leaders don’t. You can’t pretend not to know that.”

  “I don’t even know why Ruth had handcuffs in her room, and I’m not sure I want to know. Nor have I heard of pod leaders. So I don’t know about shredding either.” She pulled up the chair and sat. Not too close. While Scott’s strength wasn’t physical, it was best to be cautious. Besides, she didn’t feel like breaking her knuckles on his head again. His fresh bruise gave her a pang of regret she’d rather not re-experience, and her hand still throbbed from that punch she’d landed.

  “So, Scott, tell me what a pod leader is.”

  “You think you’re fucking funny.” He gave a snort of disgust. “If you gave a shit about your sister, you’d have been more careful and checked out the local pod first, asked permission.” Here he glared again, eyes bright with rage. “You don’t care about Ruth, do you?”

  “I care,” Callie answered shortly. “But that’s not what we’re going to discuss right now, okay?”

  He sneered in response and she suppressed a sigh. She wasn’t entirely sure how you made someone talk when they didn’t want to. Well, unless you were a Minder. She’d have to hope that Scott did want to talk, despite his situation.

  She’d ask nicely. “I’d like you to explain what you mean by ‘local pod’. That wouldn’t happen to be a group of Minders you’re associated with, would it? A pack of wolves, a murder of crows…and a pod of Minders?”

  Scott continued to curl his lip at her, but the way his body folded in on itself showed he felt wounded.

  She leaned forward, holding his gaze, and spoke very clearly. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about half the time. It’s like some secret-society code that you believe I understand. But I do not. You are the first person I have ever met who could use this mind control, or whatever you want to call it, on others.”

  He actually rolled his eyes.

  “You think I’m lying?”

  He jerked his head in a nod.

  “I’m not. If you insist in believing I am, then humor me. Explain to me exactly what a Minder is, Scott, and what he does. What you do.”

  “Please.” The scoffing tone would have been more effective if his voice hadn’t quavered slightly.

  “I’m not a Minder.”

  He looked down to examine the metal braceleting his wrist. His chest moved in and out quickly, as he tried to contain his panic. Somehow, Callie should have taken more satisfaction at putting this fear into him, given how she despised the way he’d controlled Ruth and Dev.

  Instead, she felt a little sick about their present relationship of prisoner and captor. In truth, Scott was about to become a problem she didn’t want to deal with—too dangerous to set free and yet the burden of imprisoning him weighed heavily on her.

  She realized he was muttering to himself and paid attention as he repeated, “Don’t believe, don’t believe, she can make you believe.”

  “I cannot.” She enunciated the two words, as if precise diction would convince him. “I’ve told you, I’m not a Minder.” While she had some desire to share her shifter status with a fellow freak, she opted not to tell him she was a cat. Puma pitied Scott, even wanted to calm the panicked boy, but ultimately didn’t trust the young male. Despite all Callie’s problems with her other half, she didn’t discard Puma’s instincts when it came to people.

  He lifted his head, only to drop it back on the headboard and shut his eyes as he spoke to the ceiling. “A Minder, boys and girls, is a freak”—she startled at his use of that same word—“of nature who can speak words and make them someone else’s thoughts.”

  “All right.” That had been what she’d thought, but to have it so baldly stated… “So, for example, you tell Ruth to sleep calmly and deeply, and she does.”

  He didn’t answer right away and then rather listlessly said, “I’ve taken good care of Ruth.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why would you take good care of my sister?”

  “Are you really sisters?”

  “I’m the one asking the questions here.”

  “Or what? You’ll knock me out? Tie me up? Oh wait, you already did that.” He jerked his handcuffed arm, shaking the bed. “The only reason I’m talking to you is on the off-chance you’re serious and you don’t know about Eleanor. Ruth and Dev used to belong to her, till I got them out. If they go back to her, she will use and discard them, and they might as well be dead. Madison will go to Max and he’s just as bad. They’re our pod’s leader and enforcer.” Scott’s mouth twisted.

  “That’s quite a dramatic statement, Scott.”

  He shrugged. “I’m a drama queen, that’s me. However, there are worse than me.”

  “Okay, let me get this straight. There are people, Minders, worse than you?”

  “Yes.” He actually looked hurt, which just made Callie angry.

  “Do you understand how much you’ve been fucking with Dev’s mind? He scrambles to keep his thoughts together. He’s close to the edge, anyone with eyes can see it.”

  Scott licked his lips and for the first time sounded a little desperate, as though he cared what Callie thought. “I only push Dev when I have to. The problem is he’s a fighter. He doesn’t give way easily. We knew that going in.”

  “Fighter? Going in? Can you translate?”

  “Dev resists suggestion at every turn. Some people are like that. With anyone else but me, they wouldn’t last long. But I care.” He gave a soundless laugh, probably at the expression of disbelief on Callie’s face. “Ruth, by the way, isn’t a resister. That’s why Eleanor had her so long.”

  Callie winced at the idea of some woman “having” Ruth as a type of possession.

  “Yeah,” said Scott, nodding, expression now earnest. “That’s why I wanted to rescue Ruth. Dev did too.”

  She frowned. “They’re here. You’re not saving them.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Okay, yes, Dev’s struggling. I’ll admit that.”

  “Why wouldn’t you let Dev go, if what you’re doing is so bad for him? If you can see it. You shouldn’t pretend you care about Dev. It’s a farce.”

  At this, Scott took affront. “I saved Dev.”

  “God, from what?” Callie stood up, having a hard time imagining a worse nightmare for Dev.

  “Eleanor.” Scott shook the bed again, yanking with his handcuffs. “You ask Dev about Eleanor. You say the name ‘Eleanor’ to Dev and see how he reacts.”

  She stared at her captive, his gray gaze dark and stormy. His pale face made even paler by his new powerlessness.

  “Okay, let’s set aside Eleanor for a moment.” She wondered if this bogeywoman actually existed. Real or not, she had to play it safe and assume yes. “I have another question. Ruth keeps talking about protecting and saving you.” Callie couldn’t help but think there was a lot
of bullshit talk about saving going round here. “And yet, unlike the sleeping she did last night, she does not act in any way to save or protect you. She only talks about it.”

  Scott looked embarrassed. “I didn’t do a good job.”

  “Of what?”

  “Convincing her to protect me. Mostly, I didn’t think she would need to. It was all about me rescuing her, you see.” He sounded defensive, as if Callie was questioning his abilities. “Also Ruth probably doesn’t want to, save me, that is. Whereas, she wants to sleep.” He shrugged. “I’m not good at seeding longer-term actions unless they’re in line with what the person wants.”

  “So the effect of your words depends in part on how much a person wants to do them?”

  He regarded her warily. “Of course.”

  “Then why doesn’t Dev leave this house?”

  Scott smiled, a slightly secretive expression. “I think you won’t believe me. He doesn’t want to.”

  “You’re right, I don’t believe you.”

  “You understand nothing and you’re going to ruin everyone’s life here, Callie. Everyone’s.” His voice was rising and Callie could swear he believed himself.

  “Because of Max, the evil pod leader.”

  “Eleanor is the pod leader, Max the enforcer. Are you stupid, or just goading me?”

  “I haven’t taken Minder 101 yet, Scott.”

  “If you want a crash course, wait around until Max appears. Watch and learn while everyone suffers. Or dies,” he added dramatically.

  Callie rubbed her forehead, both aggravated and alarmed by Scott’s dire tone. “What do you predict will happen?”

  “He’ll take control.”

  Callie almost said, Not of me, but chose to remain silent. She didn’t do bravado, even in front of someone chained to a bed.

  “You may not be immune to Max.” Scott swiped his face with his hand, and the way he bent over, exposing his neck, made him look young and helpless, made him appeal to the puma in her who liked to protect those she met who needed protection. Scott stank of fear and it was the only thing that stopped her from lashing out at him.