by Cecilia Lane
“Stop running,” he hissed, eyes scanning the trees behind her.
“He’s after my mother!” She inhaled through gritted teeth.
“You can’t just go in there. It could be a trap.”
“I don’t care! I have to protect her!” She spun on her heel and marched toward her home. The lights were visible through the trees. There wasn’t any movement in the windows, but she hadn’t expected any. Her mother remained still for most of her day.
The shifter’s arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her off her feet. “You’re not leaving my sight.”
He transferred her weight without a sound and slung her over his shoulder before marching away from her home. She strangled a wail in her throat and beat at his back with her fists. “You’re going the wrong way!”
“Quiet.” The sharp order gave her no room to argue. She had no way to struggle out of his arms.
The trip was short. He set her down on the ground and she ignored the feel of his hard body sliding against her soft curves. Fresh guilt washed through her and doused any hint of admiration for his muscles. She couldn’t afford to be distracted by anything.
The shifter picked up a pair of jeans off the ground, then jerked his head for her to follow him inside. Ari shot a sullen look toward the lights of her own home and thought of darting away. But he was quicker than her own mind and grabbed her wrists in his to drag her along.
“You’re not going in there alone. It’ll be exactly what the demon expects.” The shifter gruffly told her. She stood with her mouth hanging open as he pulled on a dark shirt and shoes.
“You can’t possibly know that—“
“You’re naive if you think it wouldn’t try to nab two witches in one go. Your mother is a witch, too, I assume?”
Ari nodded and chewed her lip. The shifter pulled out a gun and she flinched. She knew how to use one, of course. She grew up in the mountains. But she’d never been comfortable with it. He was obviously at ease with the weapon and slid it into a holster at his hip after a careful inspection and loading of bullets.
“What do I call you? And your mother?”
“Ariadne Wren. Ari for short.” Her voice sounded small in her ears. “Her name is Charlotte.”
“Okay, Ari. I’m Chase Parker. Let’s go check out the house.” He nodded for her to slip out the sliding glass door in front of him, then he slid it closed behind them and trotted down the steps.
The house was silent as they approached. Chase used his body as a barrier and kept her behind him. She wanted to grumble with frustration. She could barely see around his large form.
They approached the front door. He held up a hand and forced her to stop. But she ignored the command as soon as she saw the door. It stood open, as if a strong wind had blown it ajar. But she’d locked the door when she left for the clearing and she doubted her mother had risen in the night to unlock and open it.
Warm light spilled into the darkness. The inviting scene was ruined as she crept up the stairs and saw the living room in disarray. The couch was overturned and lamps were broken on the floor.
Bitter panic gripped her throat and swelled her tongue. Ari trembled as she took a step over the threshold and breathed in the first strong whiff of sulphur. The demon had already paid the house a visit.
Chase stepped in behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him eyeing the scene. He catalogued everything in a blink, her included. It made her angry that this was just another scene of a crime to him, where it was her own home and family that had been attacked.
She moved further into the house and Chase stayed close. The destruction continued down the hall. All the doors were blown open and the sulphur stench only grew stronger as she approached her mother’s room.
She didn’t know what she expected to find when she entered. Her mother, perhaps? No sign of the woman existed. Ari didn’t know if she should be relieved that she didn’t find her mother’s mangled body or fearful of what the future held.
The bed and blankets were thrown across the room and leaned against one of the walls. The altar had been similarly tossed. The remains of the figurines and bowls that sat on top crunched under her shoes. The window stood open and the curtains gently fluttered in the night air, but her mother had vanished.
Chase poked his head into the bathroom and eased open the closet, but of course, neither held the woman they sought.
Ari turned to him then. Tears were hot in her eyes, but rage boiled inside her. It wanted to crawl out of her and attack the nearest person. Someone needed to take the blame, anyone but herself. She didn’t want to believe her own actions had caused such harm. It was easier to put it on someone else, no matter how illogical her reasoning. “It’s your fault! This would never have happened if you hadn’t come here!”
Her fists pounded on his chest in a feeble attempt to destroy the hateful feelings inside her own head. He stood and took her abuse, barely registering the blows to her dismay. It wasn’t fair. Shifters stole everything from her. Her sister, her mother, and now her anger.
He holstered his gun and she swallowed. It was over for her. He’d lock her up and throw away the key.
Instead, he pulled her close to his chest. She stiffened in his arms. Then the heat of his embrace eased into her tense muscles and relaxed them one by one. The deep, piney scent of his body filled her nose and her eyes slipped closed. She felt safe in his embrace, almost as if she could forget everything that had gone wrong that night.
“We’ll find her.” His voice rumbled around her.
Ari pressed her cheek to his chest and sighed. The vibration of his voice zinged through her body and went straight to her bones. Chase stroked a hand down her hair.
Like two tomcats suddenly caught cuddling, they hurriedly stepped away from each other. They both tried to look everywhere but the other. Chase cleared his throat and stalked toward the open window and Ariadne busied herself trying to sift through the remains of her mother’s altar. Most of the trinkets and charms were broken, but she set one aside. It’d help her with a little extra power boost if she needed to cast more spells that night.
She picked through the herbs bundled together and shook out as much broken glass as possible. She didn’t know exactly what she would need to set the world to rights, but she was sure she would need more than her own power. The spell book would tell her exactly how to banish the demon, but it was in the demon’s possession.
Her panic returned. The potential for great evil had been brought into the world through a circle she scrawled. She wanted to rescue her mother, but she needed to get the spell book back.
Chase eased the curtains aside and glanced out the window. “They went this way.”
“How do you know that?”
He tapped his nose then gestured to the windowsill. A smear of red that could only be blood decorated the white wood. “The sulphur smell is strongest here.”
Sulphur and blood, she wanted to say. She closed her eyes for a second and gathered herself. It wasn’t the time to let her emotions get the better of her. She’d already done enough damage with the summoning circle and her outburst. She didn’t need to do more to make him think her unstable.
She hated that she cared what he thought of her. She tried to convince herself it was because he held her fate in his hands, but something more niggled at her.
It wasn’t until they were back outside and Chase had visited his SUV for supplies of his own that she dared to ask. Chase led the way by following the scent of sulphur and blood. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?” He never stopped moving. If he wasn’t striding forward, he was constantly scanning the tree trunks in front of them. She was thankful for his assistance. Even with the moon bright and full, his vision had to be better than hers. Not to mention, he would be better than a bloodhound because he could explain what he smelled.
“Helping. Tracking down my mother.”
“An innocent person was taken by something evil. I ca
n’t let that happen without at least trying to help.”
Protecting innocents. That was the job of an agent, wasn’t it? But he said it with such conviction that she knew it went beyond his job. She imagined he was the type to stand up to a bully in the schoolyard. For someone who could do a lot of damage with his size, it seemed there was a gentle side to him.
He coughed and looked away. “Besides, I can’t let you out of sight. You still need to be brought to justice for your role in this.”
Any good will she had toward him vanished. She’d already tried to explain that she hadn’t intended for any of the night’s events to happen, but it fell on deaf ears. She blamed herself enough without his stupid honor adding to her burden.
Good job, Chase. Open mouth, insert foot. He didn’t need to glance behind him to know Ari’s glare bored into him. He could feel her eyes on him.
It was uncomfortable. It’d been uncomfortable since he made the mistake of taking her in his arms. The little woman felt too good there, her curves too perfect against his hard muscles. The flavor of her scent still tingled his nose, sharp with her natural magic and sweet with notes of strawberries and cream that were entirely her. He didn’t want to imagine what he’d have done if they hadn’t jumped away from each other.
She couldn’t be his mate. She was a witch. A criminal. There was no reconciling those with his world. He didn’t have a bear clan to throw their disapproval in his face, but shifters and witches had never been easy friends. He was an agent of the organization that oversaw paranormal investigation and prosecution. He doubted she’d be up for conjugal visits, even if he could get past the shame from his colleagues.
His bear rumbled in approval of getting their mate naked at any opportunity and Chase growled low in his throat to quiet the beast. He had other things to worry about at that moment. Mainly, tracking the demon. He inhaled deeply and sorted out the strawberries and cream to focus on the stench of sulphur. Ariadne Wren would distract him to death.
The silence grated on him. He wanted to comfort her. She’d likely lose her mother before morning. He couldn’t imagine the demon would let the elder witch live. But he had to remind himself that Ari was the one who brought the hell-beast into their world. Did she deserve comfort? The civilian side of him screamed yes, it was her mother. The agent piece of him held emotion apart from the job that needed to be done.
So he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other while every instinct in him yelled to bundle Ari up and get her the hell out of the woods and back to his den.
“The trail is going in a straight line.” Chase stopped and stared ahead. Even with his enhanced vision, he could see nothing ahead but more trees and brush. “Is there something nearby it would go to?”
Ari leaned against a tree and her eyes slipped closed as she caught her breath. She shook her head and chewed on her lower lip. “Nothing I can think of. Just more mountains. The nearest town is in the opposite direction.”
He eyed her carefully. “Are you good to keep going?”
She quickly straightened and glared at him again. “Lead the way.”
He stepped off the trail and into the woods. His feet were silent on the ground, but Ari’s steps seemed to crunch every leaf and crack every branch. He winced. There would be no sneaking up if they needed to keep off the trails.
He tested the air again. Nothing had changed. The sulphur stench of the demon led them straight into the woods. They followed it forward, crossing over a couple more trails. Neither time did the demon turn onto the proper path.
“The cave? Maybe that’s where we’re going.” Ari mumbled.
Chase turned to her and raised an eyebrow. He caught her cheeks flushing even in the low light from the moon.
“There is a cave up ahead. Nothing terribly big, mostly used by the teenagers around here to feel like they’re getting away from their parents and roughing it in rebellion. Do you think maybe that could be where it took my mother?”
“Is there a way to get there without you announcing our every movement?”
She ignored the jab and nodded. “The trail we just crossed. It curves through the woods but gets you there. I don’t want to leave the path we know it took if you don’t think there’s a chance of finding her.”
“It’s worth a shot, even if she isn’t there. If you say the cave is straight ahead, we’d need to go by it anyway. It doesn’t hurt to have a little surprise on our side if that’s where the demon stopped.”
“Okay. Let’s double back and use the trail.”
Ariadne led the way. Chase and his bear both didn’t like it, but they couldn’t deny that she knew the area better than they did. A quick study of a map didn’t familiarize him as much as years living there. The moon was bright enough that she could see where each step took her, so he didn’t need to fear she would trip and hurt herself. The best part was the silence. On the trail, she was able to avoid stepping on everything in the world that would make noise.
The trail split and she immediately took the path to the left. Chase sniffed the air. The sulphur scent was faint there and he couldn’t tell which direction to take, other than ahead. He trusted that Ari would take them to the cave they needed. The bear was pleased that he was putting his trust in their mate’s abilities.
They walked in silence for what felt like another hour. The only sounds came from their footsteps and their breathing. The silence was oppressive. A normal night in the mountains would have insects singing their songs or the croaks of frogs quieting as the humans passed their secret locations. But even those creatures in the distance were quiet with the danger that lurked all over the mountainside.
The itch between Chase’s shoulder blades put him on alert just as much as the unusual silence of the woods. He should have trusted his instincts the first time he noticed Ariadne. The woman was a siren beckoning sailors into a path of destruction and he was her next target.
As much as he had insisted that he was only doing his job, he wanted to help. An innocent person had been taken out of her home and it deeply pained Ari. As much as he wanted to be done with the whole thing and punish his mate for her crimes, he couldn’t ignore the luscious curves that swayed right in front of him. It shamed him to distraction and he bumped into her backside when she suddenly halted.
She jumped at his blunder and shot him a glare. “The cave is up ahead.”
Chase nodded and studied the trees over her head. The sulphur stench had grown stronger as they neared. There was no movement and still no ambient sound. “Is there a way to get around quietly? I don’t want something to jump out of the opening.”
“The trail curves into the clearing at the mouth. We can go off the trail, but…”
She chewed her lip again and let her words hang in the air. She’d make noise. He doubted she’d stay behind even if he ordered it. He couldn’t let her out of his sight, anyway. She was still in his custody.
She couldn’t be his mate. She was a witch and a criminal.
No matter how many times he repeated it in his head, his bear growled and rejected it. It had caught Ari’s scent and was determined to never let her go.
Chase shook his head to clear away the thoughts of mates and crimes. He couldn’t let himself be any more distracted by the temptress raising questioning eyebrows at him. He had a duty to find and destroy the demon.
“Stay behind me. And Ari?” He pulled the gun from the holster at his hip. He’d changed ammo when he saw the threat wouldn’t be rogue shifters coming to get their revenge. The bullets were specially made for Arcane Affairs agents. Filled with salt, they would kill a lesser demon and drive off a greater. He hoped. He’d never needed to try them out, dealing mostly with interspecies paranormal crimes, but he put his trust in the institution. It wouldn’t send agents out in the field with useless weapons. “No matter what we find, we need to make sure the demon is banished.”
He met her eyes and waited for her to nod. With her agreement, he turned and walked forward, s
canning and using the barrel of the gun as an eye line. Already aimed, he could shoot off a quick round if he saw any movement. But there was none.
They rounded the last curve and the trail turned into a clearing. The cave was dark. Too dark. No light touched it. Even the weak light of the moon was gobbled up by the darkness of the cave.
Something crackled within and Chase prepared to shoot or shift, he didn’t know which. A fire roared to life in the cave, but the shadows clung to the walls where the light flickered. The darkness was a thing alive and didn’t take kindly to being forced to the edges.
Inside and behind the fire, the Wren matriarch hung motionless in midair. Her limbs dangled limply and her head lolled to the side. If it weren’t for the snarls that came from her lips, Chase would have thought her dead.
Sulphur was heavy in the air. But the scent of blood had vanished. It should have been just as strong as the demon’s stench. Unless…
“Mama!”
“Ari, no,” Chase hissed. He tried to catch hold of her but the little vixen slipped out of his fingers, hair streaming behind her like a pale ribbon as she dashed into the cave.
Ariadne reached her mother and tried to wrap her arms around the woman’s dangling legs. They closed around nothing. A rasping chuckle filled the clearing just as the image of Ari’s mother went up in smoke.
“No!” Ariadne wailed. The noise dug deep into Chase’s brain and drove his bear wild with the need to protect their mate.
The thick shadows coalesced together and oozed just behind Ariadne. The greater demon rose out of the dark pool and took its shape from the shadows. Its entire body shook, and the ruffled feathers settled against its whip-thin body and too-long limbs.
Chase swore and shoved his gun into the holster. He couldn’t fire when Ari stood so close. His bear surged forward and aided in his transformation, turning human hands to malformed bear claws. His shout for her to run away came out as a garbled roar.