by Kimber White
“And let’s not pretend I don’t know how to defend myself,” she said. I took it as a warning. And I was no fool.
I needed to get the hell away from her. Away from everyone. Until I felt more myself.
So, there we were at an impasse again. She wasn’t willing to give me any more information about the medallion. And neither was I. It occurred to me she might have more Dragonsteel in her other pocket.
I wasn’t willing to take that chance.
“Maybe some other time,” I said. “I’ll consider your offer. For now, I need to get back. It was a pleasure being your hostage, Miss…” I realized I had no idea what her last name was.
“Zendra’s enough,” she said. “And you know where to find me if you change your mind.”
Oh, yes. I did. I had that distinct feeling that I’d know for the rest of my life.
So, I left her. But I didn’t go far. I went deep into the woods at the state park adjacent to Luna Point. When the moon rose again, I did feel more in control. Lord, what if Zendra understood more about what was going on inside of me than I did?
I placed a call to Wolfguard. It had been almost three days since I’d last checked in. Payne would send in backup if I waited too long.
“She knows something,” I told Payne. I’d given him the barest of bones on what transpired with Zendra. But it was enough.
“Edward,” he said. “It seems at least likely that she’s got some connection with the Ring.”
“I really don’t think so,” I argued. I left out all the parts about Zendra’s fears for me and the fact she had all that Dragonsteel. I could handle this.
“Anyway,” I said. “I’ve got somewhat of a rapport with her. I’m going to give it a day or two, then approach her again. I’m telling you, Payne. That girl is desperate to get her hands on this medallion. She knows something. I’d like a few more days to chase down this lead.”
“You have it,” Payne said. “Just be careful and watch your back. You’re sure you don’t want me to send someone down there to help?”
“No,” I said, more forceful than I intended. “It’ll spook her. She’s not a witch, but she’s got a mistrust for shifters. She’s highly motivated. I told you, she was willing to pay big money for this crappy looking piece of junk. I’d bet a year’s pay she knows what kind of power it holds. I’m not leaving until I know what she knows.”
“All right,” Payne said. “Just keep making your scheduled check-ins. I mean it. If you’re so much as an hour late, I’m sending in the cavalry. I don’t care how much that medallion is worth, you’re far more valuable, Edward.”
“Thanks,” I said. “And I’ve got this under control.”
I only hoped that was true. It was almost midnight when I hung up with Payne. In the morning, I’d head back into town. I’d been watching the shop from a hidden vantage point along the water. It had just been mundane comings and goings. Zendra had done a few readings. She usually went to the post office for Flavia on her lunch break. She seemed friendly with the people in town but mostly kept to herself. She seemed...lonely.
I found myself wanting to know as much about Zendra as I did the medallion.
I bedded down for the night. The cool lake air gave me peace. But, as sleep overtook me, my dreams filled with Zendra.
Her touch. Her scent. The glimmer in her eyes. I wanted to chase her. I wanted to hear her laughter on the wind and spread her beneath me in the sand.
My eyes snapped open. The hairs pricked on the back of my neck. I tried to sit up, but it was as if I were bound in something silken and sticky, like a spider’s web.
Then, I saw a pair of glinting, violet eyes. The medallion rose from my neck, suspended in air. It twirled and vibrated.
“Oh no you don’t,” I growled.
She was fast. But I was faster. I tore through the webbing. The moment it broke, the stuff disappeared into thin air.
“The hell?”
I was on my feet. Ahead of me, in the brush. I saw a rabbit dart out and race for the trees.
Zendra. It was Zendra. I don’t know how I knew, but I knew.
I shifted and gave chase. The hare zigzagged under fallen logs. I felt her panicked heartbeat.
I leaped through the air. She couldn’t escape. I pawed at her, hoping to make her stumble.
She did. But not in the way I expected. There was nothing there but thin air, then a blinding point of light.
Then, Zendra was on her back beneath me, her purple eyes blazing.
It was an illusion. Fresh magic. “What the hell?”
It didn’t matter. The last time, Zendra got the upper hand. This time, the advantage was mine. I was her captor.
Chapter Six
Zendra
“Don’t even try it,” he said, his voice deep, menacing, but even with all of that, sexy. He had a firm grip on my wrist. I couldn’t break it.
If he would just let me go for a millisecond, maybe it would be all I needed. But, even as I thought it, I knew it was no use. Projecting into the rabbit had sapped just about all the magic I had left for the day. It would take a good night’s sleep for me to regenerate.
Only, he didn’t know that. It might be my only saving grace.
“Come on,” he said, helping me to my feet. It was hard to ignore the heat coming off of him. It seemed to feed me. My curiosity almost made me careless. I wanted to touch him more. I wanted to explore the depths of what he had inside of him. He was so...different than anything I might have expected.
I’d been raised to believe shifters were savage creatures. There were some who thought shifters were an abomination. My family didn’t share that notion. It didn’t mean we weren't cautious. At least, not until I turned everything upside down.
“Where are we going?” I asked. He led me back through the woods. We came out on one of the man-made hiking trails. After a few minutes, we approached the nature center at the hub of the park.
“No!” I dug my heels into the soft grass.
“Yes,” he hissed. “I’ve been playing this your way for two days. I’ve had enough. We both have something the other wants.”
“My way?” I said. “Trust me, Kalenkov, there’s not one thing about this that’s my way.”
He didn’t stop. He darn near dragged me down the hill. At this time of the day, there was only one vehicle parked in the lot adjacent to the nature center. The rangers weren’t even on duty yet.
Edward led me to a black SUV. He reached under one of the wheel wells and pulled out a set of keys. The locks chirped as he opened them. He pulled open the passenger door and made a sweeping, gentlemanly gesture, ushering me inside.
“No!” I shouted. “I’ll scream bloody murder.”
“There’s no one to hear you, sweetheart. And in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s not up for debate. Get in.”
“You can’t,” I said. “This is kidnapping.”
I searched frantically for the trail cameras.
Edward paused, and he gave me that tilted-head, confused dog expression. Then, he raised a brow. “Yes. That’s exactly what it is. Get in.”
I opened my mouth, ready to say...what exactly? The simple truth was, if Edward Kalenkov, Alpha wolf shifter, wanted me inside that car, there was very little I could do right now to stop him.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked.
“Back to the office,” he said. “Wolfguard. If you don’t want to answer my questions, maybe one of my colleagues will have better luck.”
Fear stabbed through my heart. “Torture? You’re going to torture me?”
Edward let out an exasperated sigh. “No. For God’s sake. What kind of monster do you think I am?”
“The kind that drags defenseless women through the woods against their will.”
He let go of me and put his hands on his hips. “I didn’t drag you anywhere. You snuck up on me. You thought you could steal my medallion right off my neck.”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but couldn’t. Tha
t much was all true. But one thing wasn’t.
“It’s not yours,” I spat.
“So whose is it?” he said, coming closer, so his nose nearly touched mine.
I pursed my lips.
Edward grunted. “Get in. I’m done playing games.”
“So am I,” I said. “And you don’t even know what you’re playing at.”
“Right,” he said. “So why don’t you tell me? The truth, Zendra. Why is this thing so important to you? No more lies. No more bullshit.”
I wanted to lie. I’d been doing it since the moment I punched through to this world and struggled to find a way to fit in it. I’d been alone for so long. I’d survived by not letting anyone too close, not letting them really see what I was. At that moment, Edward Kalenkov seemed as if he could see right through me.
His eyes practically pierced through to my soul. I wanted to trust him. I wanted to think maybe he was the one person strong enough to handle what I had to do.
“Fine,” he said. “Then let’s start with you. You’re not a witch. But, you did something back there. You shifted into a rabbit. I saw it.”
I felt exposed. Terrified. It had been stupid of me to let him see that part of my power.
“Zendra,” he said, his voice softening. “I didn’t come here to hurt you. If anything, I think I came here to protect you.”
His eyes widened as he said the words, almost as if they surprised him as much as they did me. I wanted to believe it.
“You can’t,” I whispered. “No one can.”
Then, something broke inside of me. It was all too much. I’d been alone too long. I had no real friends here. There was Flavia, but our relationship had been founded on what I could do for her. I suffered no illusions; she’d cast me out the moment I stopped being useful to her business. Having me around was too much of a risk.
And, there Edward was, big and strong and making overtures about protecting me. Why did I need to believe him so much? Why did it feel so good when he got close to me?
He was a shifter. A shifter. And I was…
“Zendra,” he said, his voice so low it barely registered. I don’t know if it was instinct that compelled him, but before I knew what was happening, he had his arms around me. He was so warm. So good. I leaned my head against his chest, and for the first time in almost two years, I let the tears fall from my eyes.
“Shh,” he said. His heart beat just beneath my ear. It was an intoxicating, familiar rhythm. Oh, it was a powerful magic inside him. Calming. Almost lulling me back to sleep. For that brief moment, Edward became the center of my world, and it felt dangerously like home.
“Come on,” he said. This time, I didn’t pull back when he helped me into the car. He shut the door and came around to the other side. He didn’t start it. He just closed us inside of it. It was as if we existed in a bubble, and I desperately wished it were true.
“Tell me,” he finally said. “Zendra, I want to help you. You’re in trouble. You’re scared of something. That’s plain.”
“I can’t,” I said, starting to hyperventilate.
“You have to,” he said. “Look, I don’t know why I’m even doing this. I should be...You’re...Agh. You’ve got me spinning. Do you know that? I have every reason in the world not to trust you. I really should just call this in and let more skilled people than me question you.”
His voice dropped. It almost felt like he was talking to himself more than to me. He was tortured. Part of me felt sorry for him.
“I’m a protector,” he said. “At the core of it, that’s what I do. We’re in a war. Shifters. Magic users. Do you even know that? I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’m going to trust you with what I know. Maybe then you’ll start to do the same. But, I’m not letting you out of my sight again. Not until you level with me.”
He reached into the center console and pulled out a handkerchief. He handed it to me. I wiped my eyes and blew my nose into it, sounding somewhat like a strangled goose. Edward’s eyes sparked with laughter.
“Wolfguard,” he said. “I told you that’s who I work for. I came to Luna Point to track down a lead we got on this medallion.”
“You said that,” I said.
“So let me tell you why. A few months ago, another wolf shifter tried to use this thing to hurt my brother. It...allowed him to hold my brother’s mate against her will. It...for the life of me, I don’t know how, but it does things. It gave off some kind of spell, a projection that looked just like my sister-in-law. So that my brother didn’t realize she’d really disappeared.”
My heart twisted. Edward was so close to the truth about me. A flicker went through his eyes.
“You,” he said, his voice a gravelly whisper. “The rabbit. What you did in the woods back there. It was like that.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said. I’d been lying for so long I wondered if I would ever be able to tell the truth.
“That wasn’t a true shift, was it? It was an illusion. A spell. Because...the scent was wrong. If it was part of you, I’d know. Unless that’s part of your spell too.”
“You’re messing around with something you can’t possibly understand!” I snapped. “That’s not some toy surprise hanging around your neck. And it doesn’t belong to you.”
“The Ring,” he said. “You know what they are. You’ve dealt with them?”
I froze. This was very dangerous ground. How could I tell him anything? What lie would sound like the truth?
“Zendra,” he said. “I don’t know what you are. But, I know you’d be valuable to them. They’re collectors. Procurers. Do you understand what that means? They enslave shifter’s mates. Human women. Female shifters are one of their prized possessions. We’ve lost too many as it is. They’re indiscriminate. They’ll come after anything they think they can sell or barter for power. I think they’d find a woman like you valuable. You need protection. I can provide it. You have to trust me.”
“There are no women like me,” I said. Fresh tears fell. “And you have no idea what the Ring truly is.”
“But you do?” he asked. “Zendra. Tell me what you know.”
I wanted to. I wanted to pour my heart out to this perfect stranger. Only, the moment I thought it, I knew it wasn’t true. Edward was no stranger. He was something dangerous, yes. But also familiar. And that’s what scared me most of all.
Was this whole thing some setup? Had the Ring found a way to track me? Was Edward the bait?
“If you let me have the medallion,” I said. “I’ll tell you all I can.”
“I can’t,” he said. “Not here, anyway.”
My anger flared. “Then I can’t trust you.”
This time, he was the calm one. I was all heat and rage.
“It’s not up to me,” he said. “When I came out into the field, we took precautions. This medallion never leaves my neck.”
“You did something to it,” I said, panic rising. It was impossible. And yet, every time I’d tried to remove the thing from around his neck, I couldn’t.
“If you want to be near it,” he said. “You're stuck with me. Get it.”
“Undo it,” I said. “Or the deal’s off.”
He smiled. “We’re making a deal now?”
It was as if a switch flipped inside of me. For days I’d accused Edward of losing control. Now, I was. My cheeks felt hot. I turned in my seat. I slammed a fist into the dashboard.
“You can have everything I own. You can have me if that’s what you want. But, you have to give that medallion back to me.”
I thought he was the savage, but now I became something beastly. Panic and anger won out. I’d come so far. Waited so long. And now, my family might die because of some half-baked witch’s spell they’d used to defile my property?
When I came back into myself, Edward just sat there with that infuriating grin on his face.
“Zendra,” he said. “Did you just offer yourself to me for this?”
He dan
gled the medallion in front of me. Naked lust lit his eyes. I couldn’t help that a flash of it went through me. A vision came. I was on my knees. Edward’s kiss grazed my ear. The skin at the base of my neck flared hot and I craved his bite.
“Tell me what it is,” he said, his voice was kind, patient. It soothed me and quieted my heart.
Maybe it was all part of the spell he’d admitted to using. For the moment, I no longer cared. I wanted to trust. I no longer wanted to be alone.
“It’s a key,” I whispered. “Or part of one.”
“To what?” he asked.
A single tear fell down my cheek. I gave him the only answer I could. “Home.”
Chapter Seven
Edward
“You’re sure about this?” Payne sat with one foot up on his desk. The Chicago skyline glittered behind him. It was late, almost midnight. He’d flown in from our Louisville headquarters to meet with me in secret, and I’d driven half the day.
“She’s starting to trust me,” I said. “I think if we come at her too hard, surround her with too many shifters, she’s going to clam up.”
There was another issue at play. One I wasn’t quite ready to reveal to him. Zendra was starting to matter to me. The idea of letting any other shifter near her, even the men I trusted, made something dark rise up inside of me.
Payne eyed me, but he didn’t put up a fight. As much as I trusted him, he trusted me. He sat upright and picked up a green file from the top of his desk.
“Okay,” he said. “We’ll play things your way. You have everything you need in Luna Point?”
Payne slid a plastic bag across the desk to me. It contained a fresh wad of cash and a new burner phone.
“If that rings,” he said. “It’ll be me on the other end. You don’t answer, I’m sending in backup, and that’s non-negotiable.”
“I get it,” I said.
“I’m taking a lot on faith here, Edward. On paper, this girl has given us nothing except for her interest in the medallion. It’s just as likely she’s playing you.”