by C. T. Adams
She was lying on her side, panting heavily and while she shouldn’t be able to sweat while in cat form, her fur was nonetheless soaked and rank with fear and anger.
“Did anything happen while I…well, while?” While she was unconscious; comatose; out of her mind in a strange part of the desert with no way to protect herself? To Rick’s credit, he didn’t comment for the second time. He just shook his head and kept watching the compound.
His voice was barely loud enough to be called a whisper. “They’ve gone inside briefly, but then they’re leaving. I got a little closer before the dogs quieted down completely from Ray arriving and overheard that the cards are at the other man’s house. They’re both going to go there in a minute. Oh, and the dogs are only Dobermans—so no big deal. But it would be better overall if we didn’t raise an alarm by killing them.”
She agreed. No sense in harming the creatures, even if they were dogs. “If one of us can hold them with magic, we should be able to climb the tree by the shack and drop onto the roof.”
He smirked as well as a bobcat was able. “Seems of the two of us you’re the expert on holding. I saw a picture of your handiwork in Chicago while I was in Denver.”
Oh God! There were pictures? She let out a small frustrated snarl. “There was a good reason for—”
A quick bump of his head against her shoulder stopped her explanation. “There’s no need to justify yourself, Josie. I know how Ahmad provokes you. He intentionally pushes your buttons. I’m surprised you left him alive.”
Her chuckle was tired. It was so hard having to plan her every movement by possible futures. At least this time, she’d chosen correctly. “I had no choice. If I’d killed him, Sargon would have lived. He had to be in Germany to bring down his father.”
Rick’s jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. “Sargon? That insane son of a snake was still alive?! I thought Ahmad had put him down centuries ago.”
A truck started up in the distance and Josette twisted her ears. They were leaving. It was time to make their move. “No time. More later. If we’re going in it has to be now.”
There wasn’t much to see, and getting inside was ridiculously simple—almost as though nobody cared if they wandered around. They’d left the gate wide open and the dogs penned. It felt for all the world like a trap, but nothing happened. The shed looked like a chemistry classroom. Beakers of noxious smelling fluid bubbled over low flames, while white smoke swirled through coiled glass tubes. Small packets of nearly clear crystals were stacked on a table, and there was a cash counting machine against the opposite wall.
AS THEY RAN back toward the hotel, Rick mulled out loud. “I need to get someone from Wolven out here. I’m way out of practice for this sort of thing.”
She shook her head as she dug her claws into the pea gravel of a dried creek bed halfway back. “Why involve them? It’s a human matter. Just make an anonymous call to the police.”
“Not so human, Bun. What about Ellen?”
The cool breeze was turning into a wind as the storm approached. It was hard to talk without coughing. “What about her?”
“She’s underage,” he said, as they slowed down near the edge of the drive-in lot. “What happens if both her folks go to jail on drug charges? I don’t know about New Mexico, but up in South Dakota, Social Services would be all over this case. I could smell her feathers, but she still smells mostly human. We can’t afford for that to happen. We have no idea when she’ll turn the first time.”
That had never occurred to her! Her mind just didn’t think in that mode. “Oh. Yes, I suppose that’s an issue. But what will happen to her folks if Wolven comes in?” Wolven didn’t deal well with felonies committed by Sazis. Usually, the involved parties were simply put down and the bodies removed. Josette remembered well what it felt like to have a parent put down by Wolven. Even though Maman had been insane, and Josette already an adult, it had been…difficult.
From the sounds they heard as they passed behind the massive screen, she could tell they were well into the second movie of the double feature. While the trip to the shack and the visions had felt like they took only a few minutes, it had obviously been otherwise. It was often like that. Time just seemed to warp, running too fast, or too slow to mesh properly with reality. It was one of the many things that made the gift so disconcerting. Another was the fact that the visions were often so very vivid, so real that actual reality seemed to pale in comparison. She suspected that only someone who’d actually experienced it could understand just how confusing it could be.
“How about we concentrate on getting back to our rooms and getting cleaned up. Then we can talk about where to go from here.” It seemed like Rick had already made his decision and had raised valid points, but maybe he’d listen to reason. Ellen was distraught enough without losing her parents to the very thing they hated and warned her about.
It was only a few minutes before she leaped back inside her room and changed back to a human. She carefully sniffed around, but didn’t notice anything out of place that would say anyone searched her room or had even been inside. She decided to take the few minutes for a shower. Heaven only knew when the next time she’d get the chance would be. Although it probably wasn’t necessary, she even put on some makeup, choosing the shade of blue eye shadow that matched the flowers that used to grow at their Illinois cabin. Even her teeth felt filthy, although she’d cleaned them just before she decided to go out for popcorn.
After getting dressed and gathering up her key to go to Rick’s room, she paused to lift the glass of soda she’d poured for herself earlier. It was probably flat, but better than the water from the tap. One glass of that stuff had been plenty. She’d stick with bottled from here out.
The glass was halfway to her lips when she heard the slamming of a truck door and the angry stomping of a man’s heavy boots as he passed the door to her room. Through the wall she heard soft swearing, and the sound of a window being opened frantically as the man in front pounded on the hotel room door.
She set the glass silently onto the back of the toilet tank and moved to the bathroom window. She pulled aside the blinds to get a better look. There, in the tall weeds, stood a handsome man of about thirty. He was buck naked, and smelled of equal parts anger, embarrassment, and fear. Still, he held himself with confidence, and while his dark blond hair needed a trim, the rings on his hands spoke of money.
“Ma’am.” He stepped toward the window, speaking to her through the screen. He was using one hand to cover his crotch, the other brushed his hair out of eyes the color of new grass. A small tattoo adorned his neck, barely visible at the hairline.
His voice was an urgent whisper. “I know you don’t know me, and y’all have no reason to trust me, but I swear to God, if Greg actually finds me back here like this he’ll kill Dawn and I both. I need help real bad. Even if you just let me use your cell phone.”
A man’s voice began shouting obscenities, and there was the sound of something being thrown into a wall.
“Please, ma’am. I’m begging you!”
Josette sighed. He was an idiot. He’d known the woman was married—apparently even knew the husband. It was certainly none of her business. But he smelled all right, and she didn’t want to see him get killed.
“Go hide next to my car. It’s the black Firebird. I’ll be there in a minute with some clothes and a phone.”
“Thank you, ma’am. God bless you.”
Josette sighed again. She’d been that young once and easily as stupid. It wouldn’t hurt anything for her to give the Lothario one of the inexpensive T-shirts and a pair of sweatpants she’d bought, and by now the cell phone would be fully charged and ready for use.
The argument next door was rising in volume. The woman appeared to be giving as good as she was getting. The drama and noise would probably have already drawn the police if the movie hadn’t been running so loud right next door. As it was, murder and mayhem could probably be taking place with no one the wiser. Certain
ly nobody noticed when she slipped out of her room on her errand of mercy.
“You just saved my life. I can’t thank you enough, ma’am. I really can’t. If there is ever anything I can do for you—” He repeated the words over and over as he started to dress.
“I doubt that there will be. I’m only in town for a few days.” The scent of his gratitude and relief was nearly overwhelming. She leaned against the fender of the car, keeping him in her peripheral vision while at the same time giving him a semblance of privacy.
“Just the same. You can count on me if you need anything, anything at all.” He pulled the drawstring tight around his waist and knotted it. He grabbed the T-shirt from where she’d set it on the hood of the car, pulling it on over his head. It was a little small for him: tight across his chest and back, but at least he was now decently covered.
“My name’s John Simmons. I’ve got a farm just a few miles to the west of town. You need anything, you give me a call. The number’s in the book.”
He sounded desperate to save face, not that she blamed him. So she said the words he needed to hear. “If I need anything I’ll call.”
“Good. You do that.” Now that he was dressed he seemed more confident, less nervous. But he still kept casting glances over his shoulder at the next unit. It spoke well of him that he was worried about Dawn, but he needn’t have been. Josette could hear that the argument was over and had, in fact, transitioned into a particularly energetic bout of sex.
“I wouldn’t worry about her.” Josette reassured him. “I’m pretty sure you’d be able to hear if there was anything wrong. The walls really aren’t that thick.”
“I s’pose.” He didn’t sound certain.
“Trust me.” She passed him the cell phone and waited as he dialed a number from memory. She was only half-listening to him arguing with a man on the other end of the line. Her mind was elsewhere. It had almost been too easy keeping track of real-time, where her body actually was. Something had been different about today. She took her time, reviewing each of the visions that had passed through her mind. The man was nearly done with his call when it finally hit her.
She was seeing the present just fine, and the past; but as for the future, she wasn’t in it.
Chapter Ten
RICK SAT ON the chair in his room, one boot in his lap ready to slide his foot inside, tapping the cell phone Raven had given him before he left to come here. It would be a simple matter to call him and ask him to send someone down to handle this. But he understood Josie’s reluctance. She identified with Ellen, despite the girl being a raptor rather than a cat. The girl was still young to be developing seer talents. Most didn’t develop them until after their first change. That she was seeing visions before—she might well end up with multiple gifts, like Josie.
In the current atmosphere, with the system crashed and everybody suspect as being a traitor, could any Wolven agent come down here and react to this threat without going to extremes?
But, Rick had met Ray briefly when he’d first arrived here. The man had been working on his truck in the parking lot as he rode the bike in. The way he’d snarled at Ellen said that he wouldn’t be very supportive of the girl’s gifts getting worse.
“Not yet,” Rick said the words out loud and tucked the phone into the holster on his belt, laced his boots, and then made his way down to Josette’s door. He felt slightly more refreshed after a brief shower and the mouthwash that had taken the scent of doberman from his nose and tongue. There was just something about dobermans; the scent just stuck with him.
It only took one knock for her to answer. The room smelled of another man, one in a panic and strongly laced with recent sex. His head moved around, trying to find the source, and she noticed.
Her snort was close to a laugh but more frustrated. “Some idiot was messing around with another man’s wife next door. He had to go out the bathroom window naked and asked if he could please use my cell phone to call someone to pick him up.”
Rick shot her an amused look. “And you let him?”
She shrugged. “Why not? He wasn’t exactly a threat to me and—” The indifference on her face turned to a smirk and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Where would you be today if you hadn’t snuck out my back window at Maman’s house?”
Her eyes were twinkling merrily, and he realized he missed that look on her face. He remembered the incident well and couldn’t help but grin. It wasn’t that premarital sex didn’t happen in Colonial America, but one had to be…discreet. He still remembered Josette, bearing a lovely French accent and an even lovelier set of curves, arriving at his master’s offices that cold winter morning. (There was no embarrassment in calling your employer your master in those times, and Charles had always treated him well—even after he’d actively, and shamelessly, wooed the young woman.) Perhaps Charles had seen that an innocent flirtation would lead to something much deeper and that Josette would be made honorable again a few years later when the two married.
“That was a rather…exciting night, if I remember. We wouldn’t have cut it nearly so close if not for that damned corset. Those laces were murder.”
She shook her head and chuckled, then walked over and sat down on the bed near him. “I hated those things. So did Yvette. But Maman insisted they were all the fashion and had our dresses sewn so they were required. I couldn’t even get into my petticoats without the contraption on.” She paused for a moment and then looked a little uncomfortable. “So, what should we do from here?”
He’d been thinking about just that the whole time he’d been getting dressed. “I think we need to stay in a different town tonight.”
“That seems like a good idea. I’ll get packed.” She started to stand, but he touched her shoulder and shook his head.
“I don’t mean we should leave. We just need to be elsewhere for tonight. We still need to get more information, but on our terms. They’ll change their plans if they know you’ve checked out, or even if you got in the car and ran. No, we need them off balance—not sure what to do, but not yet panicked.”
That seemed to make sense to her and she nodded, smelling of ozone relief and understanding. “Then you should probably leave openly, and I’ll sneak out and meet you somewhere. Right now, only a few people can probably connect us. I don’t think Ellen will say anything. She would have already if she was going to.”
“Right. Then your car will still be here. By the way, I like the car. It’s very you.” Josette smiled broadly and glanced toward the window. “But they won’t know where you are or when you’ll be back.”
A HALF HOUR later, Josette was waiting behind a large tree, listening as the rumble of Rick’s motorcycle neared. She’d packed a few toiletries, most of her paperwork—leaving only the passport to prove the room was hers—and a change of clothing into a book tote she’d purchased in Albuquerque. She then slipped out the back window, trusting Rick to lock up both of their rooms and pick up the deck of cards before meeting her at the edge of town.
Their destination was an even smaller town nearby called Nelson that had a bed-and-breakfast overlooking a small natural pond. It had looked so charming when she drove through the previous day that she’d nearly checked in, but Ellen wouldn’t have had a way to get home. It might be something the girl would remember if she needed to find them in a crisis.
She ran toward him and slipped onto the motorcycle as he slowed to make the corner. That way, nobody would remember the bike stopping if asked. It was a stretch to turn and bend enough to put her items in the saddlebags, but she managed it by tightening her leg muscles around Rick’s hips.
He didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he grabbed her knee to steady her when he dodged around a dead rabbit and never seemed to get around to removing his hand.
A tall, padded bar that rose from the back of the bike kept her pressed against his back for the trip, and the scent of him naturally flowed into her nose as the wind blew around them. She’d forgotten how well their bodies fit togeth
er. How could she forget something so important, even after a century?
He turned his head slightly, while still keeping his eyes on the road, lit only by the broad high beam from the single headlamp. “Do you want to try to talk while we drive, or just enjoy the night?”
“We’ll talk when we get there.” He nodded and smiled slightly, and then cranked on the accelerator enough that she gasped when her body hit the padding behind her. It wasn’t a long trip, and a part of her wished it would have lasted longer. She understood now why he drove a motorcycle—the scents and sounds on the night wind were incredible. Maybe when this was all over, she’d—
But no. Over would be over. Josette abruptly realized that she was shaken to the core at the thought of her own death. Yes, people had been making attempts on her life for as long as she could remember. But after all these years, she never really expected them to succeed. Perhaps she had gotten inexcusably cocky, but alpha Sazi were notoriously difficult to kill. “Head and Heart” was the mantra in Wolven, because if the brain could still send signals then the heart would heal, and if the heart was pumping blood, then the brain would. Damn few, even among the Sazi themselves, knew that.
If the lack of foresight was any indication, she wasn’t going to survive these events, unless something drastic changed.
Of course she could be wrong. Perhaps she hadn’t “starred” in her visions because she was out of the loop and not currently doing anything that would affect the future. She told herself that it was possible, and it was…barely. But the truth was, she didn’t believe it. And thus, for the first time in a very long time she was well and truly frightened. If there was any chance at all that she would die soon, she wanted to hear her twin sister’s voice on the phone. She needed to tell Amber how much she loved her, Charles, and the children.
But what about Rick? Feeling him pressed against her so intimately made her realize that she still had feelings for him. Yet, not all of them were good feelings. Did the bad ones matter anymore? Should she just let go of the hurt and grab whatever little bit of happiness she could while she still could?