She let out a startled cry and sent a ball of ice at her. The ball missed and hit the wall.
“Damn it,” Mica growled. “Mallory just wants to make sure you’re okay, Cordelia. Come on back with us.”
“I can take care of myself.” She threw a spell at her, and Mica lunged for her. The energy knocked her off her feet.
“Come to me.” Cordelia stuck out her hand and her bags raced to her. She backed out of the room, her cat sensing a threat. She turned and was hit across the face.
Cordelia collided with the door and raised a shield. She stared into Delaney’s eyes.
“Tell Mallory to go to hell. Away.” Delaney was thrown back.
The door opened behind her, and she yelped. “Tell me yourself.”
Mallory closed her fingers around her nape and her warm breath caressed Cordelia.
She wanted to sink into the warmth sliding up her back, but in Mallory’s arms was the last place she needed to be, even if it was the only place she ached for.
“We’re going home before the weather gets too bad, so don’t fight me,” Mallory murmured.
“I don’t think so.” Cordelia was about to use a spell on her when something sharp pricked her neck. She made a face. “Mallory.”
“You’ll be fine. Kamari said you shouldn’t freeze that out of your system before we get you home.”
She stumbled.
“I’ve got you, angel,” Mallory said in a soft intimate tone that made her wet even as fog closed around her.
“I’m going to get you.” She slurred her words.
Mallory’s lips grazed the side of Cordelia’s neck. “I think you already have part of me,” she said. “Let’s go, ladies.”
“I’m seri … ous.” The fog took her, and she slumped in Mallory’s arms.
****
“I hope that works,” Mica muttered. “Or we might all die before we get back to the den.”
Delaney grunted in agreement. “You didn’t see that frost in her eyes. She was like cold personified or something. And that snow. How did she do that?”
“Ask Kamari or Cambrie,” Mica suggested. “Cause I have no idea.”
“I almost busted my ass, Mal. I hope she’s worth it,” Delaney muttered as they reached the SUV.
“She has information that’s put a target on her back,” Mallory told them.
“And what about the magic she’s put on you?” Mica teased.
“Oh, please,” Mallory retorted as she laid Cordelia down on the seat before getting in. “Delaney, you’re lucky she’s not bruising.”
“Then you should have been the one out there getting snowed in,” she grumbled. “That girl has some serious psychic juice.”
Cordelia’s skin was cool to the touch as she smoothed her fingers over her cheek while the other two strapped into the front seat. Her face was so innocent and serene in the induced sleep.
“I might never find out who she really is,” Delaney told her as she started the truck. “But I did get a call back from a source in Stonington about Bradley.”
“What about them?” Mica demanded.
“The source said Bradley was the last person to see a pretty little waitress nine months ago,” Delaney said. “The girl was found dead three days later in the woods near the hotel Bradley was staying at.”
“He might have been playing sick games with Jerry, Collier, and the others?” Mica asked.
“More than likely,” Delaney said. “I received a strange call from someone who said they had some proof.”
“You have to meet them where?” Mallory asked stroking Cordelia’s soft red curls.
“Nowhere. All they wanted was an address. I gave the club’s,” Delaney said. “We’ll see if anything comes. The woman I talked to said I was the second woman to call about Bradley.”
“Carleigh or Kamari,” Mica said. “Kam said she had something that proves Bradley was a killer, but she hasn’t shown it to me. She said she wanted to find more on him. Get hard proof so Jen and the D.A. wouldn’t be able to throw it out.”
“Makes sense,” Mallory said. “But it’d be nice if she shared.”
“She’s not going to,” Mica assured her.
Mallory didn’t press. Mica could get territorial about her mate even though Kamari could clearly take care of herself. Her psychic ability was fiery from all indications, but she’d never witnessed her using it.
“I want to know the minute you get the package,” Mallory said.
“I have one coming on your girl, too, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up,” Delaney said.
“Don’t open it. Just give it to me,” Mallory told her.
“I hear ya,” Delaney replied.
Mallory looked down at Cordelia. It didn’t really matter what she’d done, she already didn’t want to let her go.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cordelia groaned as she came awake. Her head hurt like hell. She lifted her head from the pillow wondering—then it all came back to her.
“Illuminate,” she muttered, and the lamp flooded the room with dim light.
She pressed her fingers to her temple. “Mallory. I’m going to strangle you. Drugs are never a good idea.”
She climbed out of bed in the small room. Cordelia scanned the chair finding her bags on it. She knew they couldn’t open them thanks to her magick, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t tried.
She pulled open a nearby door finding a closet. After a quick search, Cordelia headed out of the room looking for a bathroom.
“Mallory, I need the bathroom, or I’m puking all over the place,” Cordelia called coldly.
“Second door on the right.”
She found it and was inside head hanging over the sink. The little food she’d gotten down hours ago burned its way back out with force.
“You’re okay.” Mallory appeared in the doorway and reached out to pull Cordelia’s hair back.
She wrapped her arms around herself when she was finished, and Mallory turned on the water.
“You could have killed me,” Cordelia muttered, rinsing her mouth before splashing water on her face.
“Here.” Mallory gave her a hand towel to dry her face.
“That shit messes with my system,” Cordelia snapped.
“Because of your psychic abilities.”
“My cat system.” She glared and then hissed. “You’ll be lucky if I don’t turn you into an ice cube for this.”
Mallory cocked a brow at her. “If you do that, who will keep you warm tonight?”
“Blankets,” Cordelia snapped. “I’m sure you have one or two around here.”
“With the storm, you weren’t going to be safe out there on your own,” Mallory said as she cleaned out the sink. “You should be thanking me.”
“I doubt anyone else would have used a tranquilizer,” Cordelia said darkly. “So he’d be dead.”
“Really? You can’t kill without getting sick.”
“I get by just fine,” Cordelia told her. “Don’t presume to know me because you’ve seen me at a few low moments.”
“Are you hungry?”
“No.” She squeezed past Mallory and headed back to her room. “When the storm passes, I’m out of here.”
“Come have some tea,” Mallory told her.
“Where are we? It’s dark in here and there are no windows. What time is it?”
“It’s after nine, and we’re underground.”
“Ugh. Damn canines. Why can’t you live in houses like normal people?”
“We aren’t normal.”
Cordelia stayed where she was sitting on the bed. She could hear Mallory in the kitchen and from the scents wafting to her, she was making more than tea.
She would love to say she wasn’t going to eat, but she was starving. Hopefully she could detect any drugs, but she wasn’t counting on it. The drug had messed with her senses a little. She wouldn’t fully recover from that until tomorrow.
Mallory appeared sometime later—it couldn’t have
been that long—with a tray.
“I’m hungry,” Mallory said. “So, if you don’t want to eat, then you can watch me.” She sat on the chair. “How’s your face? Doesn’t look like Delaney hit you.”
“I heal quickly,” Cordelia said and searched the tray. She found sugar and lemon and added them to her tea. She stirred and took a sip of the fragrant raspberry brew.
“I had your place searched, so I’d know what to stock during the storm,” Mallory told her.
“You have no respect for my person, decisions, or privacy,” Cordelia muttered. “You’re amazing. Now I know why you actually don’t have a serious lover.”
“Most women would consider that considerate.”
“Do you hunt other women down and detain them against their will, too?” Cordelia asked coldly.
“Cordi,” she said softly. “I just wanted to help.”
“I don’t need help!”
“You’re on the run from something, so I’d say you do.”
“You can’t help me, Mallory,” Cordelia told her with a shake of her head. “I’m not a damsel anyway.”
“Why are—what happened to take you from your home?”
“I told you. I don’t have a home.” She reached for the soup. Cordelia stared down at the liquid. She drew in the scent and a smile tugged at her lips for a moment.
Her mother used to make soup for her, too, when her stomach was upset. And tea.
“What?” Mallory asked.
“Nothing.” She focused on eating.
“What did you do to Larue?”
“She’s dead,” she said softly and spooned soup into her mouth. “I’d love to say I lost control, but that wouldn’t be true.”
“What did you do to her?”
“It’s always like that,” Cordelia said. “A moment of perfect clarity, but it’s more like the eye of a storm. I’m calm, centered and everything makes sense.”
“So, you do what?”
“What has to be done,” Cordelia told her. “I only wish it had been more like that then. I guess there’s been refinement with age and necessity.”
“The night your parents died.”
Cordelia looked at her. “It was a long time ago.” She set about finishing her soup and then her tea. “Trying to find out who I am will put me in danger. Stop, please.”
Mallory frowned. “Let me help you. Sam and I can get you out of this.”
Cordelia sighed. That was a no. She saw it in the resolution in her face.
“I need to rest to recover from the drug. Do you mind leaving me alone?”
Mallory was already done and took the remains of the meal and left her to her solitude. Cordelia laid there allowing herself to relax. She’d be fine and when the storm broke, she’d be gone even if she had to walk.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mallory settled into bed an hour later, praying Cordelia didn’t decide to try to leave in this. She couldn’t stop her and neither could anyone else without a sedative.
She dozed off, but it was a light sleep. Her animal was on guard for any hint of her guest attempting to escape. As a result, she didn’t sleep much.
In the morning, Mallory was up at her usual time and dressed. She headed out of her quarters inside the main den, which was a series of tunnels the pack had come upon two centuries ago.
They had been reinforced and proper drainage had been added to prevent flooding. The system was watertight, so even in the event of a tsunami they would survive.
She put on coffee and then tea before heading out to check on her soldiers. Mallory left the day-to-day management to Brynn, so she merely sat in on the morning meeting. When the operation lounge was empty, she walked up to the front where Brynn stood.
“How are things looking?”
“Everything’s good,” Brynn told her. “We’re secure.”
“No problems from the storm?”
“No. I’ve pulled in most of the teams and since the storm is still raging out there, we’re working half-staff,” Brynn told her. “Syd and I decided to put only a few people on that common border and focus mainly on covering our outer perimeters.”
They shared a border with Sam that neither of them found it necessary to monitor much since they were each other’s neighbors.
“Shorten the rotations and have everyone work in animal form.”
“Will do. Did you get the girl? I heard someone was looking for her besides you,” Brynn said.
“Any idea who?”
“No. The girl didn’t say,” she said. “But I think it’s Jenner. He didn’t arrest you, but he wants to, and he probably thinks she’s the key. Plus, he’s looking for McDaniels and thinks the girl might have killed her like she said she would.”
“I’m sure,” Mallory said with a sigh. “I won’t be in my office, but use the cell to send me a message if you need me.” She suspected Larue was dead as well, but she couldn’t say she was sorry. It was good riddance to bad rubbish as far as she was concerned.
“Anything I can do?”
“No. I just want to check out a few things since I have the time.”
Brynn nodded. “Do you want me to spend a little training time with her?”
“Who?” Her brows knit in a frown.
“Cordelia.” Brynn said. “If not, I could put her to work in the kitchen or nursery to give her something to do.”
“Not today,” Malloy replied. Cordelia had made it clear she wasn’t staying. There was no need to include her in pack life.
“Did you ask her to stay? You guys have chemistry. It could work, but you’ll never know if you don’t go for it.”
“I have a pack to run. I can’t chase after a spoiled little girl,” she said quietly, but she had felt alive yesterday.
She always did when she was with Cordelia. It had been too long since she’d thought about two days down the line with a woman.
“And by the trouble you’re going to finding out who she really is, I’d say you’re interested. Otherwise, you’d have let her go no matter what she might know that could get Jenner off our back.”
She rubbed her nape. “I like a mystery.” Mallory smiled.
Brynn grunted. “I know what that mystery is in this case, and I hope you admit it to yourself and her before it’s too late.” She grabbed her clipboard from the podium. “Got work to do.”
Mallory was out of the room behind her heading back to her temporary quarters. She was waylaid by a member of her pack and ended up talking to a small group of women about some changes they wanted to make to one of the pack’s programs for juveniles, especially the more submissive and nurturing.
It was two hours later before she made it back to find Cordelia gone. Mallory went cold all over at the very thought of facing the rest of the day without having seen her.
She checked the bedroom and found no sign of Cordelia’s bags. With a low growl, Mallory left, not wanting to be trapped alone with Cordelia’s scent taunting her the rest of the day.
****
“You shouldn’t be out here.”
Cordelia turned to give the bouncer from the club a curious look. “Camden?”
“Are you okay?” Camden came to stand next to her beneath a tree just outside the cave’s entrance. The walkway was covered preventing the snow from falling on her.
“Just getting some air,” she said.
Cordelia hadn’t wanted to be inside all day, but there was no getting out in this unless she shifted, and she was contemplating it. However, Cordelia didn’t want to risk attack by wolves and Mallory probably wouldn’t take too kindly to her killing her packmates even in self-defense.
“I have to run patrol. You want to come?” Camden asked. “I’m sure Mallory won’t mind.”
Cordelia smiled. “Okay.”
“I have to shift. Mal wants us in animal form.”
“It’s better in animal form,” Cordelia said and quickly undressed.
“Whoa,” Camden exclaimed. “What are you doing?”
“I like the snow.” She shifted, and Camden laughed.
“Okay, then. Just stay close. Mallory will kill me if anything happens to you.”
Doing patrol was exhilarating. Cordelia was built for the snow, her feet bigger, and her fur shaggier in winter. Being outside doing something made her and her cat happy.
The sense of freedom and the feeling of camaraderie gave her purpose and a sense of belonging.
They were out four hours, giving Cordelia a chance to pick up the scents of the land. On their way back in, they swung by a frozen-over lake and she picked up familiar scents. Cordelia turned to look at Camden and growled.
Camden yipped, but Cordelia had a feeling the coyote didn’t have a clue what she was getting at. She slid over the ice and Camden followed. They were walking a short time when they happened on Mica and Kamari in their animal forms.
Cordelia approached slowly. She shifted to her human form for better communication.
“Kamari, I need to talk to you.”
Mica and Kamari led them away from the lake to a small line shack not far from the border. They waited for her to go in and then followed.
After shifting and getting sweats and t-shirts, Mica gave her a curious look. “You came out in this to talk? Why didn’t you use a phone?”
“I should hit you,” Cordelia said coldly to Mica.
“Hey, Delany was the one that clocked you,” Mica muttered. “I’ll get some coffee.”
The shack was small with a kitchenette and seating area. She suspected there was a bedroom since Mica hadn’t gotten the sweats and t-shirts from the ottomans near the fireplace.
“We aren’t going to be hitting,” Kamari said. “Because if you can do any of what Mica said, I’ll take you down quick to keep Mica from getting hurt.”
“I can sense your fire and your strength, but I have abilities of my own.” Cordelia shrugged. “And I’m not afraid of killing you, but I wanted to give you a message.”
“Really?” Kamari asked, a hand going to her hip.
“From Carleigh,” she said, going to sit down.
“Carleigh? She’s dead,” Mica said.
“I know. I was with her when she died.” She held Kamari’s gaze. “She told me to tell you you were right.”
Catching a Coyote Page 14