Jaguar (The Madison Wolves Book 12)

by Robin Roseau

  “I’m sure they do,” I said. “Ready to dry off?”

  * * * *

  Iris was still guarding the door by the time we emerged, both of us wrapped in towels, and I was carrying our wet clothes.

  “Give those to me,” Iris said. “I’ll take care of them.”

  “I need to speak with you first,” Carissa said. “Come with me.” She led the way back to the bedroom then leaned against the closed door. I moved about the room, getting dressed, while Carissa addressed the wolf. “Iris.”

  “Please don’t ask me not to tell the alphas.”

  “I’m not going to, but I’m going to ask you tell no one else. Did you have to explain why you were guarding the door?”

  “Michaela noticed, but she didn’t say anything.”

  “Which means she will later,” Carissa said. “Where are they now?”

  “Everyone is gathering in the kitchen,” the girl explained.

  “All right. You’ll come with me, and you’ll accept my explanation.”

  “If the alphas ask, or one of the enforcers... I can’t lie to them, Carissa.”

  “They won’t ask. But you will wait while we dress.”

  The girl nodded, saying nothing further, but she collected the towels and wet clothing, promising to see to it.

  Three minutes later found us entering the kitchen. As Iris said, everyone was gathering, and it was busy. But as soon as we stepped in, Elisabeth turned in our direction. She looked exhausted, and I knew she hadn’t taken her own advice to grab some sleep. “There they are. We have coffee.”

  Carissa had hold of Iris’s arm, and I followed as we moved fully into the room. Without releasing Iris, Carissa accepted a cup of coffee, and I received my own, and then we moved closer to the alphas.

  “Iris,” said Michaela. She crooked a finger. “Come here.”

  Carissa maintained her clasp on Iris’s arm for a moment then, apparently reluctantly, she released the wolf. Iris waited just a moment then moved around the kitchen island. Michaela pulled her close, then they both turned. The little fox whispered into the wolf’s ear, but her eyes were on Carissa the entire time. I couldn’t hear what was said, but apparently Carissa could, because she nodded once to Michaela.

  Then Iris said, “Yes, Alpha,” before scampering from the kitchen. Carissa nodded once more, and if anything further was said about Carissa’s sleep habits after enthralling too many humans, it wasn’t while I was listening.

  “We have some information,” Elisabeth declared a moment later. “And we were wondering how soon you could question the humans, Carissa.”

  “I imagine the other vampires are still asleep,” Carissa said. “I need to reinforce the thrall before we can question mine.” She began to smile, but it wasn’t her friendly smile. “Are they being guarded by humans or wolves?”

  “Two of my wolves,” Greg reported.

  “Are you in communication?”

  He gestured to the human woman with him, who answered, “Yes.”

  “Warn them that mine are about to begin to struggle. Let them.”

  The woman nodded and spoke quietly for a minute. Then she said, “Done.”

  Carissa’s smile widened, and then she cocked her head. She held that position for ten or fifteen seconds before cocking the other way.

  “What are you doing?” the human woman asked. “One of them is going crazy trying to get free. Wait. Now two of them.”

  Carissa cocked her head back the first way. “And now three,” she said, and her fangs were poking out. “I am calling them to me.”

  “They’re still tied.”

  “I know,” she replied. “I planned ahead. Now number four.” She cocked her head back again.

  Michaela swore.

  “What?” Elisabeth asked.

  “I couldn’t figure out why she tied them back up,” Michaela said. “I hate when I don’t figure out a puzzle. Cruel, Carissa. Don’t stop.”

  She didn’t.

  * * * *

  We drank our coffee. Some of us had a bite to eat. Some of us had a second cup of coffee. Periodically, Greg’s aide offered a report of some sort, but Carissa didn’t really pay attention.

  Eventually she smiled again, her fangs still out. “Shall we see if they’ve hurt themselves?”

  All of us filed out, Carissa in the lead, the rest of us following along like a particularly large brood of ducklings. It was a modest walk to the sheds where we’d been keeping the prisoners, and we could hear them before they were fully in view.

  In front of the two sheds, Greg’s wolves looked nervous as they looked back and forth between the two sheds. Then one of them stepped forward. “Greg, they’re going crazy.”

  We reached the space between the two sheds, and it was completely clear which of the humans Carissa had enthralled. There were six, dripping in sweat and struggling to be free of their bonds. They were making guttural noises, and half of them had struggled enough that blood was dribbling down their arms from wrists torn in the struggle to free themselves.

  Apparently, the wolves tie very good knots.

  “Ah, my pets,” Carissa said, lifting her voice to be heard. “You did not come to me, so I have come to you. I am very disappointed.”

  Each of the six renewed his struggles. Carissa stood in one place, not even looking at them, but cocking her head back and forth, still smiling, her eyes as red as they’d been before, her fangs exposed.

  I’d never seen her like this. Never. To me, those fangs had always represented pleasure, and Carissa had been the paragon of refinement. This was the first time I’d seen what it meant to be the Queen of New Orleans, and I thought this was barely a taste.

  She kept that up for a while before asking, “Mr. Freund, which would you like to question first?”

  “One of the pilots,” he said.

  “Anna, do you have a knife?”

  “I’m sorry, Carissa.”

  “Someone give Anna a knife,” Carissa said. It was only a moment before Michaela had one for me, but Carissa said, “Maybe one that won’t burn her.”

  “I’ve got one,” said one of the guards, holding it out.

  I took the knife, and Carissa said, “Point one out, Mr. Freund. Anna, drag him to me, please.”

  “Of course, Carissa,” I said.

  Greg nodded, consulted the human beside him, and then she stepped closer and pointed. “This one.”

  I looked at Carissa for confirmation. She nodded, so I stepped past the human and through the shed’s open barn doors, coming to a stop before the selected human.

  He was still naked; they all were. He wasn’t one who had torn his wrists to answer Carissa’s call, but he was still struggling madly to free himself. I didn’t wait but leaned over him and cut the rope binding him against the wall then quickly cut the rope holding his arms lifted towards the ceiling.

  At that, he almost got away from me, scrambling to leave the shed, but I grabbed his ankle and stepped past him, dragging him along towards the vampire. I tried to drag him on his stomach. Petty, I know. But while continuing to struggle with me, he rolled onto his side, so I wasn’t able to scratch his face in the dirt.

  I dropped his leg in front of Carissa.

  “There, there,” Carissa said, not sounding at all soothing. She knelt down in front of him to pull his blindfold and gag off.

  “I tried to come,” he whimpered. “I tried to come.”

  “You didn’t try very hard,” Carissa said. “But you’re going to do exactly what I tell you, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

  “Silence,” Carissa ordered. “And do not fight these people.” She looked up. “I want his wrists tied behind his back now. Leave his ankles tied.”

  Greg gestured, and his two wolves stepped forward to see to it. I got out of their way but wondered what Carissa was doing. I didn’t think this man could do anything to displease her now, but what did I know?

  “Excellent,” Carissa s
aid a minute later. “Alphas, Greg, where would you like to question this man?”

  “I don’t want them in the lodge,” Lara said.

  “And I don’t want them near the others,” Greg said.

  “The picnic shelter,” Michaela said. “Unless you’re going to make him bleed. I don’t want blood all over.”

  “No blood,” Carissa said. “I’ve had enough for a few days.” She smiled again, her fangs still showing, and turned her back on the bound prisoner. She began stepping forward. I leaned down to grab his ankle, but Carissa said, “Leave him here.”

  I dropped his leg, shrugged, and followed the vampire.

  * * * *

  She led us to the shelter, picking one of the tables and sitting down cross-legged. “Does anyone feel I am being too cruel?”

  “I can’t question him while he’s over there,” Greg said, avoiding the question.

  “She’s going to Call him again,” Michaela said. “Aren’t you?”

  “I wonder how quickly he’ll crawl his way here,” Carissa said. “Is anyone going to stop me?”

  “No,” said Lara.

  She cocked her head.

  It took the man ten minutes, or perhaps a little longer, before he arrived on the ground in front of Carissa. It didn’t look like a pleasant crawl, being bound and naked, although the worst was probably crossing the gravel drive, and then the last twenty feet of concrete under the shelter.

  “It took you so long,” Carissa said. She clucked her tongue. “I am deeply disappointed. Well. You are going to answer any questions anyone here asks you. You will answer honestly. I will know if you lie, and if you think I am cruel now, try lying to me and see what happens to you.”

  “I won’t,” he said. “I won’t lie.”

  “Very good. Mr. Freund, he’s all yours. You may do whatever you like with him. Ask him whatever you want.”

  Enemies

  Two hours later we collected back in the control room deep below the lodge. Greg, with Elisabeth and Carissa each chiming in from time to time, spent the longest on the first man, but they’d questioned each of Carissa’s six people before putting them all back in the sheds again. I didn’t think we were much closer to the full truth.

  “Here is what we know,” Greg said. “There are at least three outfits involved. Chasen was hired, and it’s clear he had no idea what he was getting into. According to the registration papers on the helicopters, they were leased from...” he consulted his notes. “Mid-Star Aviation. The four pilots work for a third organization, Dark Gorge Consulting.” He paused. “I do not believe any of these organizations is the one ultimately responsible for what happened. Mid-Star does some shady work, but not this shady. I don’t know anything about Dark Gorge, but if I were planning an operation that could fail this badly, I wouldn’t use my own people to be captured.”

  “Maybe we weren’t supposed to capture the helicopters,” Elisabeth said.

  “I’m almost certain you weren’t,” Greg replied. “Which is why I haven’t ruled out either Mid-Star or Dark Gorge, but I do not believe our search ends there.” He spent several minutes discussing both organizations and promised additional information later in the day.

  “I want to talk about priorities,” Michaela said. “I want the evidence gone. Gone!” She repeated that word emphatically. “And I don’t want to use our normal disposal methods for the bodies.”

  “Why not?” Elisabeth asked.

  “The real people responsible are out there,” Michaela said. “And they know it failed. We don’t know if this was just an attempt to get rid of some competitors or a hope it would really work, but whoever did this isn’t our friend. He may be sending law enforcement right now. I want that evidence out of here.”

  “Michaela is right,” Carissa said, “but she overstates the danger represented by law enforcement.”

  “I’m not sure she does,” Elisabeth said. “We avoid human politics, and we do not have the same influence with law enforcement you have in New Orleans.”

  At that, Carissa allowed her fangs to grow. “I can send any law enforcement away,” she said. “Convinced of the ridiculous nature of any claims.” She smiled widely, making sure we all saw the fangs. “Any of my vampires can handle a nosey policeman or two. Between Kristian and me, we can handle an army of FBI officials.”

  “What if they know what we are?” Lara said.

  “FBI official policy is to stay out of paranormal politics,” Greg said.

  “Humans were killed,” Lara replied.

  “Lara,” Carissa said, “While I would rather not acquire government attention, if we do acquire it, we can handle it. However, I agree with Michaela. We need to dispose of the evidence.”

  “We have five basic groups of evidence to destroy,” Karen said. “Helicopters, equipment, living bodies, dead bodies, and evidence of dead bodies. Did I miss anything?”

  “No,” Michaela said after a moment of everyone else shaking her head. “Let us discuss them in pieces. Please don’t destroy my helicopters.”

  That resulted in a few chuckles, but then Lara said, “You can’t keep them, but if you really want one, I’ll buy you one.”

  “Would you really?” Michaela asked. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  She reached over and squeezed Lara’s hand then turned to Elisabeth. “Would you ever let me fly it?”

  “No.”

  “Brat. Seriously?”

  “Michaela,” said Portia, “They’re impractical. Think about the maintenance. I think we’d love to be able to transport more people directly here, and faster than our current aircraft, but...”

  “I know,” Michaela said. “I don’t want us ditching them in the lake, though.” She sighed. “How do we get rid of them?”

  “Give them back,” Greg said.

  “There’s evidence...” Michaela said. But then she grinned. “We’re not giving them back. We might sell them back, if you can clean them.”

  Greg laughed. “We can clean them.” He turned to Carissa. “No offense, Carissa.” He paused at that, letting Carissa know he really wanted to use her title. “I agree with Michaela. I want this evidence out of Wisconsin.”

  “I do, too,” Carissa said. “My point was that law enforcement does not represent a dire threat. But we have time. We should do nothing rashly.”

  “I’m glad you’re here, Carissa,” Lara said. “Thank you again.”

  “You’re welcome,” she replied. She shifted her attention. “I’m sorry, Michaela.”

  “Damn it,” Michaela said. “Just once more. Please.”

  “It’s not safe. Frankly, you’re not that good, and we need to get them out of here.”

  “What are we talking about now?” Lara asked.

  “Your mate wants another spin in her helicopter,” Carissa said. “Perhaps with the excuse that she’s one of two licensed helicopter pilots in the room. However, I suspect she and I aren’t the only two on the property.”

  At that, every pair of eyes turned to Greg. “Sorry, Michaela.”

  “Damn it. You brought pilots.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “My preference would be to disassemble them, cleaning them as we go, but I don’t want to try to transport two disassembled Black Hawks off Madeline Island. My recommendation is to let my team sanitize them, and then we’ll remove them under cover of dark. There’s nothing more we’re going to learn from them. I can transport them elsewhere.”

  Everyone looked around. Finally Lara said, “Agreed. Carissa?”

  “It’s your choice, Alpha,” said the vampire.

  “Perhaps,” Lara said, “but I find myself wanting your opinion on everything.”

  Carissa nodded. “Greg, do you need one of my vampires to go along to grease any wheels?”

  “No, but thank you,” he said. He made some notes. “Alpha?”

  “Do it,” Lara said. “What’s next?”

  “Do you want to keep the equipment?” Greg asked. “I wo
uld not recommend it.”

  “Karen? Portia?”

  “It’s top equipment,” Karen said with a glance at Portia. “As good as anything we have. But it’s evidence. Get rid of it.” Portia nodded at that.

  “Greg, do you want it?”

  “As Karen said: it’s evidence. But I can sell it. We can apply it to your bill.”

  “Do it,” Lara said after glancing at Carissa, who said nothing. “Are we going to learn more from our prisoners?”

  “We need to question the remainder,” Greg said.

  “And I need to enthrall four more,” Carissa said. “But I’m in no shape to do it now, and I won’t be for a few days. I do not want to ask Kristian to take more than he has, and my others won’t be ready for weeks, if not much, much longer.” She paused. “Kristian... He could take more, but I don’t want to ask.”

  “Then don’t,” Lara said. “Bodies, alive or dead, are hard to explain, Carissa.”

  “I know,” she said.

  “Kill the last four,” said the fox.

  “Michaela!” Lara said.

  “Kill them and get them off our property,” Michaela said firmly. “Greg? Carissa? Am I wrong?”

  Greg and Carissa looked at each other.

  “We can move them,” Elisabeth said slowly.

  “It’s too risky,” Michaela said. “Anything can happen. They forfeit their lives when they willingly engaged in an attempt to kidnap women and children. Kill them. If no one has the guts to do it, I will.”

  “Michaela,” Lara said again, setting a hand on her mate’s arm.

  “No!” Michaela said. “I want them off this property, and it’s too dangerous to move them while they can talk. So we have bodies, and we have thralls. I want the thralls questioned, and then I want the lot of them gone, with no way to trace them back to us. How?”

  “We’re not done discussing this,” Lara said.

  Michaela spun to her. “They tried to kidnap your mate!” She said. “They tried to kidnap your daughters! I’m surprised you didn’t destroy each and every one before I even got that helicopter back here.”

  “I can’t think about that,” Lara said tightly.

  Michaela’s expression softened, and she set her hand in Lara’s. “If I start,” Lara said, “I don’t know when I’ll stop.”